A Year Is An Awfully Long Time
by Ryuuko1
Summary: How much can change in the course of just one year? Year-long prompt: one chapter per day. fem!Vlad / fem!Danny AU
1. 6309: College

**Author**: This is part of a year-long prompt challenge. The prompt number, prompt, and date will be the chapter title. I hope you find these enjoyable!

**Disclaimer**: DP is not mine.

**347 College 6/3/09**

College was looming in the future, and Danny wasn't quite sure how she felt about it. She and her friends would be separated for the first time since...well, since they met.

Her boyfriend of 2-ish years was going to be in Washington D.C. Her best friend was going to be off in California. And she? She was going to be in Wisconsin, since, with her grades, that was the best place she could get into.

Ghost hunting and schoolwork didn't mix.

She was also nervous because she'd be leaving Amity behind, vulnerable to the ravages of ghost attacks, as she would be unable to protect it.

"Look, your mother and I can take care of things here," Danny's father told her one day when she was being particularly paranoid, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Yup! We'll make sure everyone is safe from ghosts!" her mother enthusiastically replied as she attempted to cage a piece of renegade toast that had been contaminated by some spare ecto-whatever that was lingering in the toaster from a previous experiment. Danny's fears weren't assuaged by that assertion, but she forced herself to believe it.

Afterall, maybe the ghosts would follow her, taking the danger away from Amity and to the University...although Danny wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. She _wanted_ to do well in school; afterall, she was still shooting for the whole astronaut thing, even though it was looking less and less feasible with her academic track record.

_Although attacks have been getting less frequent...I've gotten strong enough that most ghosts think twice about attacking me or those important to me. _A memory floated into Danny's mind and she shuddered, shaking it off. _Can't dwell on that, can't dwell on that..._she thought vehemently as she sat in the Op Center, trying to come to terms with her future.

_College, huh?_ She thought with a small half-smile. _I'll graduate from high school, _hopefully_, and then there's just one more summer before I'm a _college student.

A short, mirthless laugh passed her lips. _I'm surprised I've lasted this long. I would have thought my lifestyle would have killed me long before now._

She sighed again and propped her feet up on a blank spot on a console, closing her eyes. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself and keep herself from obsessing over her future. Every time she thought she had mastered the anxiety, though, it came back full-force. Eventually, she gave up trying to calm her nerves and she opened her eyes. Danny looked outside the large window of the Op Center and scowled, spotting Vlad's vultures passing by. She swung her legs so her feet touched the floor, pushed herself vertical, and transformed effortlessly into ghost form.

Some days she wondered if she was more comfortable being a ghost than a human. It was an unnerving possibility. What did that _mean_?

She phased through the Op Center and faded from sight, planning on surprising Vlad's vultures—she _needed_ some stress relief, and pummeling the billionaire's cronies was looking very, very appealing.

Things had been going well enough for her, but her relationship with her boyfriend was slowly deteriorating and she wasn't entirely sure _why_, which was endlessly frustrating. There was also the strain of schoolwork, _not_ getting killed by Val or her parents, evading the subtle bullying of her peers, and all sorts of ghost related issues. She _desperately_ needed a break, but, as one didn't seem to be in the cards, misplaced aggression sounded like good therapy.

Danny flew over to the ghosts and was about to blast them when she caught her dad's name in their conversation. She drifted closer and paced the avian ghosts, flying next to them, silent and invisible.

"...wants with him?"

"Hell if I know," one responded. "I like _this_ assignment better, anywho—not cut out fer fightin'."

There was a nod of agreement among them all. "More time off, _that's_ fer sure."

"Wonder why th' change in heart," one murmured, and the others glided and shrugged simultaneously—which should have been impossible, but since when did ghosts listen to the laws of physics?

"Who knows?"

"Who _cares_?"

That statement was the end of the conversation, the three winking out of existence, causing Danny to growl in annoyance and become visible, stopping in midair.

"Wonder if they knew I was tailing them," she muttered to herself. _They were talking about dad, and from what it sounds like, Vlad's changed her tune regarding dad. 'More time off'? Perhaps...no constant surveillance anymore? _That_ would be nice. I'm getting tired of destroying the Plasmi-bugs._

Although that _did_ bring Vlad to her home, and their verbal sparring matches—which always ended just shy of becoming physical confrontations—were too much fun (which worried Danny; they _shouldn't_ be fun, right?).

Danny remained hovering in midair and looked around her leisurely, a smile flickering across her face.

She _liked_ helping the people of Amity, and as they had _finally_ clued in that she was around to help them—no-one knew that Danny Phantom was Danielle Fenton, though, except her friends and older brother (the jerk)—she didn't have to worry about _normal_ humans attempting to kill her. Well, except for Val, but when _wasn't_ he out to kill Danny Phantom?

_Jazz's away at college, though...where I _will be_ next year. Ha, it all comes back to that, doesn't it? Who knew something as stupid as changing schools would make me even more paranoid than usual?_

With that, Danny attempted to shake off her gloom and began a leisurely fly through _her _town.


	2. 6409: Test

**Author**: Double update because I didn't post yesterday. -_-b

**Disclaimer**: DP will belong to me when the show uses one of my fanfiction as a guide to an episode. Since DP isn't being actively produced anymore, what does that say about my ownership of the series?

**217 Test 6/4/09**

"You forgot, didn't you?" Tucker whispered, making Danny give her best friend a dirty look.

"I've had a lot on my mind," Danny muttered back as the astronomy test was passed out.

The statement was both true and false—she _did_ have a lot to think about, but she didn't have the excuse of ghost attacks as why she was distracted anymore. This situation was purely a product of laziness and absent-mindedness.

At least it was an _astronomy_ exam. She'd probably do okay on it even though she didn't study. The subject just...came naturally to her. She received the test and looked at the first question:

_1) Calculate the radius (in kilometers) the Earth would be if it became a:  
a) white dwarf  
b) neutron star  
c) black hole_

Danny looked at it blankly for a moment before sighing and taking out her calculator.

_I think I remember the necessary equations..._

–

The bell rang loudly in the silent classroom and Danny picked up her backpack after placing the pencil behind her ear. She stood and scooped up the test in one motion, backpack hanging precariously on her shoulder, before she walked to the front of the classroom. She deposited the abhorrent pieces of paper on the teacher's desk, then walked out. She loitered in front of the lockers until Tucker came out as well, the two falling into step as they headed to the lunchroom.

"What'd you think?" Danny asked.

Tucker shrugged. "Same old same old. Mr. Lehr's tests are _always_ a pain."

Danny nodded in complete agreement. "But it's over."

"Yeah. _Thank god_."

The two girls entered the lunchroom and Danny peeled off to sit at their usual table—her father had packed her lunch today, so no need to wait in line. Danny sat down and retrieved the paper bag from her backpack, putting it on the table before her. She poked at it hesitantly, and when nothing attacked from within it, she carefully peeked in.

Danny slowly let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and dumped the contents onto the table—an apple, a sandwich, and a bottle of water. The usual.

_Small blessing._

"Hey."

Danny looked up and smiled at her boyfriend, who sat down next to her, his tray full of disgustingly healthy vegetables. It was the one thing that Sam would never be able to convince Danny of—she refused to abandon her omnivore existence.

"Hey," Danny replied with a smile.

"What has you looking down?"

"I forgot about an astro test today," Danny said with a sigh as she freed her sandwich from its saran wrap cover.

"Bet you did fine—you're good at that star stuff," Sam asserted before taking a bite of whatever tofu concoction he had for lunch.

"Thanks," Danny said with a soft smile.

Sam was a good boyfriend, as far as Danny knew. They had their spats—sometimes quite severe—but they always seemed to work things out. Sam was supportive (although sometimes quite selfish), kind (but there was that mean streak...), understanding (if stubborn at times), and caring (occasionally stifling). People said they belonged together, and Danny tried her hardest to believe them...

But something was going awry.

Before, Sam's very _presence_ made happy butterflies dance in Danny's stomach, but now that was...well, _fading_. Danny used to _delight_ in the feel of Sam's arms around her, the gentle kisses they shared; now, she found herself wanting to shy away from his touch, his lips. It was baffling, but Danny had mastered her reactions enough that she could retain a semblance of happiness and contentment in his embrace.

The act was apparently convincing enough that, while she might get a few weird looks from him, he didn't seem to want to pry. Probably just wrote it off as "a chick thing."

Still, it was worrisome.

Tucker finally joined them and Danny squelched the desire to smile in relief.

_What is wrong with me...?_


	3. 6509: Groceries

**Author**: another update...they're not _intentionally_ getting shorter...some prompts just lend themselves to more exposition than others.

**Disclaimer**: ha ha really?

**12 Groceries**

Danny walked leisurely down the grocery store aisle, leaning casually against the handle bar of the shopping cart. She looked at the list held loosely in her before regarding the packages around her.

_Cereal for all of us, huh? Jazz should be home today...actually, should've been home _yesterday._ Maybe he stopped by a friends'?_

She picked up Honey Nut Cheerios for her brother and Honey Bunches of Oats for her parents. A smirk flitted across her face as she picked out her own before continuing on.

_Pasta, sauce, ground beef; fajita mix, bell peppers, onion, salsa, chicken, chips; steaks, sweet potatoes, broccoli...fudge mix? Don't think they have that. What else? Milk, juice, eggs, yogurt, etc. Fine, fine..._

Danny was eternally grateful that Jazz had left the car home—it made getting around _so_ much easier.

_Funny,_ Danny thought with a frown. _He would have at least called..._damn_, I sound like my dad._

It _was_ a little worrisome, though. Jazz wasn't the rebellious kind. He tended to stick to the rules unless the rules were _begging _to be broken—and even then, it was never anything severe. As far as Danny knew, Jazz had never sped anywhere at anytime, which was perhaps something _she_ did every day everywhere. Being able to go invisible helped evade tickets.

Danny meandered through the store, tossing objects into the car every now and then. She paused in front of the "feminine hygiene products" and frowned.

_You know, I've never had to use this stuff. Is something wrong with my body? I guess...I should look into it. Don't think it's healthy...I'm also behind in other areas of development,_ Danny thought with mild distaste as she looked at her unfortunate lack of a bust. _Could pass as a boy _easy.

She sighed softly and was about to continue when her phone rang, the "Ghostbusters" ringtone startling her. She flipped open the phone and spoke: "Yo?"

"Danny! Thank god! Where are you?"

Danny blinked, a sinking feeling forming in her gut. "What's wrong?" Danny asked, concern lacing her voice.

"Jazz is missing."

"_WHAT?_" Danny exclaimed. "What do you mean?"

"He was coming back on the train with some friends, but they turned away for a moment and when they faced him again he was _gone_. They thought he might've just gotten separated, but they never found each other. He hasn't called, e-mailed, text-ed..."

Danny swallowed nervously. _Something about this..._

Well, if there was _one_ good thing about having ghost powers (and parents who knew about them), it was the ability to be in two places at once and fly at high speeds (that was two—whoops).

"I'll look into it," she said in all seriousness. "Where and when was he seen last?"

Danny's father gave the half-ghost the details before she hung up. She looked around covertly before cloning herself, leaving a clone behind as she slipped away, changing into ghost form in an unused corner. She turned invisible and intangible before flying away to search for her brother.


	4. 6609: Missing

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**154 Missing**

"You know, I'm not sure if I should be flattered or worried that, instead of provoking me into a fight, you chose to go snooping through my house looking for your wayward brother."

Danny whirled quickly, lips pulled back in a silent snarl as her eyes fell on the billionaire who was leaning casually against a lab table. "You know something?" she demanded.

"I know _of_ it," Vlad replied, buffing her nails lightly against her suit jacket. "If you're asking if I did it, the answer is no."

"I _know_ that," Danny drawled. "But not because you said it."

"Oh? How, then?"

"There's nothing in here that says you'd been working on anything more innocuous than a specialized gun—nothing that would require you to trap one of my family to drag me here for. Your vultures also knew nothing of it, and I can be _quite_ persuasive."

There was a feral edge to Danny's voice that she wasn't quite aware of, but which Vlad noticed distinctly.

"I see," Vlad said slowly.

"Now, you said you know _of_ it. What does _that_ mean?" Danny asked, floating down to ground level, eyes boring into Vlad's.

"I know who captured him and where he is."

"Why haven't you tried to _help_ him?" Danny snapped. "That would damn well endear you to my father."

Vlad shrugged delicately. "Short answer? I _can't._ Not this time of month," she murmured softly.

Danny blinked. "What?"

Vlad looked at Danny sharply. "You're 17, Danny."

"Yeah?"

"And you haven't had your first period?"

Danny balked at the personal question, some of the intensity leaving her. "N-no..."

Vlad blinked slowly. "Really?"

Danny frowned and fidgeted, "Yeah."

"Mm...well, I _suppose_ I could give you forewarning—when you are menstruating, your abilities become unstable, sometimes _much_ more powerful than usual before almost disappearing. As _I_ happen to be enduring that particularly wonderful part of my bodily cycle, I am unable to...assist you reliably."

"Why would you want to anyway?" Danny asked suspiciously.

"Why so little faith in me?"

"Because every time you've 'helped' me, it's always been for your own gain."

Vlad smirked wryly. "My dear girl, Jason is as dear to me as a son—surely I'd want to help _family_."

Danny snorted in a very unladylike manner. "Like hell you do."

Vlad feigned wounded very convincingly.

Danny rolled her eyes. "Look, just tell me where he is," Danny half-demanded. There was a brief pause before she added grudgingly, "Please."

Vlad's eyebrows raised slightly. "Well, since you asked so _nicely,_" she drawled, "I think I'll be able to aid your search."

"Fine. Where and by whom is he being held?" Danny snapped.

"You're really accepting my help? That means _trusting_ me, you know."

"You won't send me to my demise," Danny replied dryly. "Now _stop stalling_."

Vlad held up her hands in mock surrender. "Very well. I'll tell you as long as you promise not to rush headlong into it."

"Fine. Tell me."

"You are sincere?"

"I'm not like _you—_I actually tell the truth."

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid, Danielle."

"Why do you care?"

"Your father would be heartbroken if anything happened to you."

"I promise. Where's Jazz?"

"The Observants have abducted him in order to you goad you into—Danny! Wait!"

Danny vanished through the Ghost Portal, Vlad's voice abruptly cut off, replaced by the eerie silence of the Ghost Zone. Anger was singing through Danny's body as she sped along, a cool, crystalline focus descending upon her, the hot anger she had been experiencing turning to a glittering, cold rage. Normally, she would have been alarmed by the emotion and suppressed it, banishing it to the dark corner of her mind she never chose to venture to and ignore with all her will.

This time, though...

This time, that part of her was _necessary._


	5. 6709: Monster

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**250 Monster**

There were times that Danny wondered if she was more of a monster than the creatures she fought against.

Jazz was cradled gently in her arms, passed out and—for the most part—unharmed. It was a tremendous relief to the half-ghost, and made the remaining tension in her body drain away. Exhaustion hit her like a sledgehammer, and she faltered slightly in her flight, weariness sapping her strength. She shook her head emphatically and focused on the Ghost Portal before her. It was _Vlad's_, but she had no choice—she didn't have the strength to make it to her home's Portal. At least at Vlad's they would be _safe_.

Danny nearly fell through the Portal, but her pride kept her upright as she stumbled through. She was surprised to see Vlad stop in what appeared to be mid-pace. Upon the two making eye-contact, the billionaire's face darkened—the older half-ghost was obviously about to reprimand Danny, but Danny's appearance and cargo stopped Vlad.

"Follow me and tell me what happened," she snapped before turning quickly on her heel, exiting the lab, Danny trailing behind.

Danny shifted Jazz in her hold into a more comfortable position as she followed Vlad through the mansion.

"I got Jazz back from the Observants," Danny said softly.

"Obviously" Vlad drawled dryly, gaze briefly flicking over her shoulder and onto Jazz.

"They drugged him," Danny supplied. "He should come around soon."

"You know what they used?" Vlad asked, curious.

Danny remained stubbornly silent.

Vlad sighed softly and opened a door to a guest room. Danny entered and gently laid her brother down, phasing any remaining ghostly gloop off of him before tucking him in. She backed away, a fond smile on her face.

"Danielle."

Danny unconsciously tensed and turned to face Vlad. "Yeah?"

"Is that ectoplasm yours?"

"For the most part, no," Danny answered, looking down at herself. _It really does look worse than it actually is, doesn't it...?_

Her statement resulted in a long, contemplative silence.

"What did you do?" Vlad asked softly, approaching Danny slowly.

"I saved Jazz," Danny replied, offering no further information.

Vlad stopped a foot or so away from Danny before reaching out and smudging a blob of ectoplasm across the younger half-ghost's cheek. "What did you do?" she asked again.

Danny slapped Vlad's hand away and gave the billionaire a glare. "I saved Jazz," she repeated stubbornly.

"How, then?"

"None of your business," Danny snapped, eyes narrowing in anger.

Another silence descended. "Clean yourself up—you're bleeding on my carpet," Vlad told the younger half-ghost. "There is a bathroom connected to this room. Use it. No harm will come to your sibling—of course, you must know this already. Why else would you come here?"

Danny smirked wryly. "You said you'd help 'family', didn't you?"

Vlad's lips twitched in a slight smile before she spoke again, face and voice becoming very serious. "By the way," she started, "you owe me an apology."

Danny frowned. "What? Why?"

"You promised you wouldn't rush into the situation—and yet that is _exactly what you did._"

Danny flinched slightly before scowling. "You shouldn't have made me promise something you knew I wouldn't be able to keep."

"So you lied to me?"

"I—"

Vlad raised a hand, and Danny's voice mysteriously died in her throat. "You. Lied," Vlad told her with deliberate slowness.

"You don't _understand_!" Danny snapped. "Jazz is my _brother_ and _no-one_ hurts the people I love!"

"You think I just popped out of the aether? My dear girl, I understand _entirely_. I, too, happen to have parents and siblings."

"You do?"  
"Two older sisters, a mother, a father, aunts, uncles, cousins, maternal and paternal grandparents...Danielle, I _do_ happen to be _human._"

Danny's brief indignation faded to confusion. "Then why'd you go evil?"

Vlad simply smiled coldly. "Go take a shower," she ordered Danny and pushed the younger half-ghost towards a door. "I will inform your parents that you are both safe and that you will return to them once Jason is feeling better."

With that statement, Vlad left, Danny watching her retreating form with no small amount of confusion.


	6. 6809: Bath

**Author:** posted a little earlier than usual to prevent myself from writing more than just this prompt today.

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**111 Bath**

Danny sat in the overlarge bathtub/shower combo and skimmed coagulated ectoplasm off of the surface of the bathwater—apparently, ectoplasm was lighter than water—and thought.

_Idiot,_ she scolded herself. _There were probably better ways of handling that._ Danny chuckled softly, bitterly. _Both things._

She checked her ghostly body to make certain that the few wounds she had sustained had healed before changing into her human form, figuring she might as well clean her human form, too (she had stripped both of her forms prior to entering the bath). She drained the water, watching as the water level slowly fell around her, tickling slightly. She watched the water dip below the hands she had clasped around her shins and a memory hit her, making her wince.

_Not water dripping from her hands...something else..._

She shook herself, shivering slightly. She stood and blindly turned on the hot water for the shower, cranking it up all the way. She braced her hands on the warm tile of the shower/bath stall, the water pelting her back and tangling its watery tendrils through her hair. Steam misted around her, and in it she saw shapes form and fade like memories and had to swallow a number of times to keep herself from throwing up.

_Vlad wouldn't appreciate me puking in her shower,_ she thought idly, closing her eyes to try and stem off the images.

The gesture only made matters worse, since now she saw her memories in technicolor, forcing her eyes open again. She made a soft noise of frustration and looked around for something to wash her hair and body with, thinking that _doing_ something might stem the flow of memories.

She located shampoo and washed her hair with ruthless efficiency before applying conditioner with slightly more gentleness, letting it sit as she found bath gel and a poof, scrubbing her body clean.

The heat was finally starting to get to her, so she turned the water cooler, briefly washing her face before simply standing underneath the showerhead, letting the conditioner be slowly rinsed from her hair.

She knew she was crying, but she really didn't care. It was best to get the emotions out now, cleanse herself of the guilt—she might be able to face her brother and not die of shame that way.

_Did you really have to do that?_ A small voice inside asked.

Danny nodded slightly and took a deep, sobbing breath. _Yes,_ she answered herself, the brief image of the terror on Jazz's face flickering through her mind, wracking her with a shudder of guilt.

_It's for the best,_ she told herself resolutely before finishing rinsing the conditioner out of her hair and turning off the water. For a long moment, she simply stood there, the mist disturbed only by ambient air currents and her breath.

She finally stepped out and called all the water resting on her body to form a small globe in her hand prior to dumping it in the bathtub, watching is swirl down the drain before changing into her ghost form again. She looked at the shredded suit that was resting on the floor and sighed. She picked it up and, to her surprise, it formed back on her, completely whole and clean.

_Huh. Let's not think too deeply into how that happened,_ she thought before looking at her human clothes. She poked at them and wrinkled her nose.

_These are ruined,_ she thought with a sigh. _If only I was stronger...!_

She paused, then shivered. _Nevermind. I'll just have to...no, I'll have to transform out of my ghost form before entering home—mom and dad still aren't quite used to their daughter being the ghost-girl. Shit. I have to borrow clothes from Vlad. How _humiliating.

Danny scowled before sinking through the floor, going off to find Vlad and..._apologize._


	7. 6909: Karma

**Disclaimer**: not mine.

**92 Karma**

_I will accept your apology and lend you clothes...but on two conditions..._

--

Danny scowled momentarily at the desk before her before her expression smoothed out. _This is some kind of karmic retribution_, she thought sullenly. She twirled the pencil lightly in her hand and forced her attention back on what her math teacher was saying at the board. It was basically the end of the year—finals started on the 16th—so it was all review now.

Mr. Lehr was just a pain and claimed the test they had taken was a better way to review for the cumulative final they were facing.

At least she hadn't done poorly—she had gotten a B, and that was _without_ studying.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying to ignore the covert—and sometimes not-so-covert—looks she was getting.

_I am going to _kill_ Vlad,_ she thought with no small amount of malice.

Finally, the bell rang, signifying that they were to move on to their next class—in Danny's case, tech.

She groaned inwardly. _Damn! In shop class wearing _this_? And she told me that if I do anything to it I would be the one paying the dry cleaning bill. Where'd she get this anyway? It's not something _she_ would normally wear..._

The white, light, flowing skirt fluttered pleasingly (although Danny would never admit it) around her ankles, drawing slight attention to her shoes—which were white sandals, delicate looking, but somehow quite sturdy and comfortable. Her top was a clingy teal tanktop made modest by the fashionable short jacket that she wore over it. Around her neck was a fine silver chain that played host to a simple pendant of sapphire and opal--

_Vlad's voice soft, next to her ear as she placed the necklace gently around Danny's throat:"Sapphire for your eyes, and opal for your ghost power. Did you know opals can be used as a power sink for your ghostly energy?"_

Danny mentally shook herself. _Don't think about that._ The outfit as a whole made her uncomfortable—she wasn't used to such fine fabrics and makes—but _that_ wasn't what was getting to her.

_No, the bitch made me go commando,_ she thought, seething. _Said she didn't have anything that would fit me. Liar._

Danny was gripped by the constant terror that a breeze would come by that would billow her skirt up enough for people to see that she wasn't wearing underwear...thankfully, schools and fierce breezes usually didn't go hand-in-hand. She just had to pray that it wouldn't rain. _White clothes and rain_...Danny shuddered.

Vlad had also coerced her into wearing some makeup.

"_It's not like I'm going to make you up like a clown," the woman had said. "Just highlight a few things..." There was a wicked twinkle in her eyes that told Danny more than anything else that Vlad was enjoying having her hands on Danny with Danny unable to do anything to prevent it._

Danny walked into the shop and received an appreciate whistle from her bench-partner, who she promptly smacked lightly on the back of his head. "Shut it, Val."

Valerian gave her a winning grin that she returned with an eyeroll. "What has _you_ all dressed up today?" he asked, propping his elbows casually on the bench.

"None of your business," Danny snapped primly, trying to find a good way to sit on the high chair with a skirt.

Val reached out and steadied Danny before she could topple both herself and the chair, keeping her steady enough that Danny could find a comfortable seat. "Thanks," she muttered grudgingly.

Val merely smirked. "Anything for you."

"Ugh, are you _flirting_ with me?"

"Hey, anyone with eyes can see your little _romance_ with Sam is fading."

Danny blinked. "Really?"

Val raised his eyebrows slightly. "Yeah, _duh_. Jeeze, it's like you two are the last to catch onto the gossip _about_ you."

"I didn't know boys gossiped."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about boys, I'm guessing."

"Oh, _god_, stop it!" Danny half-exclaimed, lightly shoving Val, who laughed softly.

Danny fended off any other comments from the other boys in the class by a rather potent glower.

It was an _excruciatingly_ long class.

The minute the bell rang signifying the end of the school day, Danny hastily gathered her belongings and made a bee-line for her locker.

"_The whole day. Midnight to midnight."_

Danny sighed as her promise to Vlad floated into her head. _Crap. Still can't get out of this._ Although why she was keeping her promise when Vlad wasn't around to make sure she didn't break it was a mystery to Danny. Perhaps because she was a moral person and also didn't want to see the retribution Vlad had in mind if Danny broke _this_ promise...?

She met up with Sam and Tucker out in the front of the school, and the unholy amusement had yet to fade on Tucker's face.

"Don't. Say. Anything," Danny ground out.

"What? You look pretty. That's not a _bad_ thing," Sam murmured, fingers brushing Danny's cheek lightly, making Danny blush faintly.

_Is it really ending between us?_ She thought fleetingly. "It's just _annoying_," Danny muttered.

"How'd this happen anyway?" Tucker asked, obviously curious. "You said you'd tell me later..."

Danny groaned. "It's not really a story worth telling..."

"Tell us anyway."

Danny sighed, defeated. _2 against 1._

"Fine. Well...you see..."


	8. 61009: Late

**Author note:** I'm glad people are...intrigued?...by the prompt set-up of this 'story'. It certainly makes my life easier. :D Thank you for your reviews, patronage, etc.!

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**28 Late**

Danny took gasping breaths as she tumbled into her first-period language class, limping over to her desk and sitting down heavily.

Mr. Lima simply sighed and continued his lesson.

Danny was notorious for being late, and all her first-period teachers throughout the years had just come to accept this as part of the daily routine. The one time she _had_ been early she had been pulled aside by the teacher once the period was over, but before the next class had begun.

"Are you having trouble at home?" the teacher had asked, obviously concerned, making Danny blink.

"No, why?" she had asked, puzzled.

"You're never early."

Danny had blinked, then grinned sheepishly. "I set _three_ alarms today," she had responded, "and one of them is that new kind that drops onto the ground and rolls around so that you have to climb out of bed to find it and make it shut up."

The teacher had looked mildly disbelieving. "Well...if you ever do have problems at home, don't hesitate to talk to me."

Danny had been touched and amused in equal parts. The truth was that she hadn't run into any ghosts on the way to school. She was usually accosted at least _once_ on the way to school—most of the time by Skulker—but she was lucky that day.

She had been working on teleportation, but had never _quite_ gotten it down...

She finally caught her breath and took out her supplies, groaning softly when she was unable to find her language notebook.

She jumped when she was poked in the back and turned in her seat, leveling a glare at the person behind her.

Val gave her a grin and passed her a piece of paper and a pencil.

Danny gave the ghost hunter a grateful smile and took the offered supplies.

She and Val had reached an agreement sometime during Junior year that, while they _liked_ each other, they could never _date_ each other. It'd be..._awkward_...although neither would offer their reason for feeling so. Instead, they had become good friends—quite a difference from when they had first met.

"Try not to be late for the last day," Val whispered to Danny. "Don't want _you_ to be blamed for all the senior pranks."

Danny snorted. "Trust me, I plan on being here _on-time,_" she replied equally softly.

"You do that," Val said, although there was something in his voice that said he didn't quite believe Danny.

Danny rolled her eyes and concentrated on what was being written on the board. It _was_ just review, but, as language wasn't her strong-point, she _had_ to pay attention or risk failing the final.

She _really_ wanted to graduate, so she couldn't afford to fail any of her finals.

Eventually, the bell rang, signifying the end of classes, and Danny moved to leave. She returned the pencil to Val before walking towards the door.

"You know, if you're late tomorrow, you'll have set a record for the greatest number of tardies a student has ever had in their high school career here," Mr. Lima told her with some amusement.

Danny smiled sheepishly. "I'll _try_ to be on time."

The teacher merely sighed. "Just be glad we stopped noting you were tardy halfway through sophomore year."

"You did?" Danny asked, surprised.

"We've been keeping a casual running tally, however," the teacher informed her.

Danny flushed in embarrassment. "It's not _deliberate_..."

"Go, Miss Fenton. _I_ won't make you late for your next class."

Danny ducked out of the classroom, face burning in shame, and headed over to her locker.


	9. 61109: Kitchen Table

**Author note:** So, yeah. I was busy all of yesterday, so you get a double update today! ^_^b sorry.

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**29 Kitchen Table**

Danny sat at the kitchen table, one hand lightly fisted in her hair as she squinted at the text on the page before her.

_Stupid _cumulative_ final,_ Danny groused inwardly.

"DANNY!" a voice said as two hands clapped down on her shoulders.

Danny nearly jumped out of her skin and phased intangible. She turned through the chair and glared at her older brother, who was now casually leaning against the back of the chair. "Jazz! Don't _do_ that!"

Jazz laughed and looked over at what Danny was studying. _"_US Gov and Pol, huh? Don't remember much of that class."

Danny resettled herself in the chair and phased tangible again. "That's because it's _stupid_," Danny drawled.

Jazz grinned mischievously. "Why are _you_ here studying anyway? Shouldn't you be out goofing off?"

"I _can't_!" Danny groaned. "I _need_ to pass these tests to graduate."

Jazz nodded in mock solemnity. "Finally growing up, are we?"

"Shut it," Danny snapped, but her voice carried no anger. "Bet you didn't study for any of your finals _ever_ and still got As."

"Of course," Jazz said in an imitation of haughtiness. "Would you expect otherwise?"

Danny rolled her eyes. "I swear, one day you'll get an A- and the world will end."

Jazz snickered. "Want me to help?" he offered, serious.

Danny looked horrified briefly. "No! Get help from my _brother_? Are you _nuts_?"

Jazz snorted and smirked. "Yeah, well, this is the only time I'm offering."

"I think I'll survive."

"Okay, okay. Good luck—you'll obviously need it."

Danny chased Jazz out of the kitchen with a ball of icy energy before looking back at her notes.

The _real_ reason she hadn't accepted Jazz's help was _slightly_ more complicated than underhanded sibling rivalry.

Her mind shied away from the memory that the situation provoked and forced her focus back onto preparing for her final.


	10. 61209: Games

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**76 Games**

"Do you remember the games we used to play in elementary school on the final day?" Danny asked across crossed arms, the question directed at her best friend.

Tucker gave Danny a brief smile as she tinkered with her newest toy, her feet propped up on the empty seat across from her—someone had obviously decided that summer needed to start a day early. "Like 7-up and stuff?" the technogeek responded.

Danny smiled lazily. "Wish we could still do that. That was fun—especially the end-of-year parties. Now all we get are half-hearted attempts where someone brings in cookies their mom made or something," Danny said, waving a hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Yeah, well _I'd_ like air conditioning," Tucker groused, fanning herself with her hat.

Danny smiled in sympathy and reached out, catching Tucker's hat. The girl looked at Danny quizzically before Danny let go. "Put it back on your head," the half-ghost instructed.

Tucker did so warily and jumped slightly. "What did you _do_?" the girl hissed, although the hat wasn't removed.

"Just put a little ice energy in it. It _should_ remain cool for as long as you wear it now."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

There was a brief silence. "Wow. When'd you learn to do that?"

Danny smiled sheepishly. "Didn't. I thought it'd work, tried it out, and, _voila_, it works!"

Tucker snorted. "God, Danny..."

Danny merely smiled in a lop-sided manner. Her eyes briefly darted to the front of the room, where Ms. Gordon had obviously given up trying to teach her distracted classfull of seniors. "Actually, speaking of games...didn't the new expansion pack for DOOM come out?"

Tucker blinked, the grinned. "It _did_!"

"You have it?"

"No, but I bet Sam does."

"Think we can crash his place after school and spend the rest of the night on it?"

"Don't know till we ask. Think you can pull some strings?"

Danny blinked, and was about to ask what Tucker meant before it hit her, making her flush. "I...guess."

Tucker gave her a wide smile. "Don't think you'll need to, though."

Danny nodded. "So, what've you heard about the new pack...?"

–


	11. 61309: Storm

**Disclaimer**: No...just, no.

**18 Storm**

There was something _primal_ about thunderstorms that struck an odd chord in Danny. The sheer, uncontrolled power—the crack of thunder, the blinding brightness of lightning (_plasma_), the pounding rain that made everything misty and indistinct...made something deep within Danny respond.

She knew she could get the rain to obey her—she had done it before—but it had ended unpleasantly. Nature doesn't appreciate being tampered with, even if the being doing the tampering is _un_natural in its very existence.

What she _really_ wanted to bend to her will (although she would never admit the desire for _control_ out loud) was the lightning (_plasma)_. She wanted to feel it dance dangerously along her body, feel it flow through her, follow her directions. She wanted to hold the torrent of energy in her hand, to watch it blaze across the sky according to _her_ commands.

She watched a particularly vicious fork of lightning streak across the dark, moody clouds and a shiver of delight briefly worked its way through her. The rain was coming down in sheets, flowing haphazardly down the windowpane she was looking out of.

All the lights were off, and Danny was alone in the house, her brother out visiting high school friends, her parents elsewhere (perhaps out shopping for new technology?), and all was eerily quiet save for the occasional growl of thunder. It was somehow...oddly appropriate.

A sense of _potential_ grew inside Danny's gut and her grip on the pencil tightened, her eyes glued to the skies above. _Where will it strike?_ She wondered, body tensing.

Abruptly, the lightning flew across the clouds, creating an intricate spiderweb of _power_ that made the part of Danny that wasn't _quite_ human howl in appreciation as the thunder reverberated around her, the sounds loud and terrifying, being so close.

Danny quickly caught herself, though, forcing the feral grin off her face, shaking herself bodily and mentally.

_At least mom and dad aren't home,_ she thought with a slight tinge of shame. Ever since _that time_ it'd been a little harder to pretend she wasn't nudged a tad closer to a ghostly disposition. Oh, she'd learned _control_, knew how to rein in the impulsiveness that was part of her ghostly nature, but...

Thunderstorms were just so _raw,_ so _elemental_, so _uncontrollable..._

Something she secretly longed to be.

Danny could tell the storm was moving on and returned to her studies, the rain on the roof a strangely soothing sound as she focused on brute memorization of language vocabulary.


	12. 61409: Leather

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**115 Leather**

"How in the _world_ can you wear leather and not _die_ in this heat?" Tucker asked Sam, handing her hat to Danny with a pleading look on her face.

Danny sighed and took it, imbuing the fabric with some of her ice energy before handing it back to the technogeek. "Tuck's right, Sam. Aren't you _sweltering_ in that?"

Sam shrugged. "I'm okay."

Danny's eyes narrowed as she looked at her boyfriend who was innocently eating his gelato. "You're sweating."

"So?"

Danny reached out and put a hand on the jacket Sam was wearing before lacing it with her ice energy.

Sam yelped in surprise and gave her a mild glare. "What'd you do?"

Danny shrugged. "Put some ice energy in your jacket. You don't feel as hot now, right?"

Sam shifted, briefly allowing relief to show on his face. "It's like a personal air conditioning unit that doesn't ruin the environment."

"I'll take that as a 'thank you'," Danny said dryly.

Danny figured she deserved at least _a_ day off from studying, so she and her friends had decided that ice cream from a local vendor followed by a day of playing mindless video games was in order. They were walking leisurely back from the store, trying to ignore the heat and enjoy each other's company.

"What're your plans for the summer?" Danny asked Sam.

Sam shrugged. "Dunno. Work somewhere, I guess."

"Do you have a job lined up?"

"Well, yeah..." Sam said and licked some melted gelato off his fingers.

"How 'bout you?" Danny directed the question to Tucker this time.

"Got an IT job."

"How?"

Tucker smiled smugly. "I'm just special that way."

"You're _special_ alright," Sam replied dryly, making Tucker lightly punch him.

"How about you, Danny?"

Danny sighed gustily. "I've been _trying_ to find seasonal work, but I haven't gotten anything. Mom and Dad say they have a surprise for me, though, which _never_ is good."

The three shared an uneasy glance.

Danny shook the dark thoughts away before briefly giving Sam a once-over. "Why _do_ you wear so much leather? I thought that was a metal-head thing, not a _goth_ thing."

Sam looked at his heavily accessorized jacket and shrugged. "Looks cool and is a symbol of rebelling against the machine. Do I need any other reason?"

"Guess not," Danny murmured, unconvinced. "It just...doesn't _look_ comfortable."

"It's not about being _comfy_, it's about looking cool," Tucker answered Danny.

Sam frowned. "It's comfortable!"

"Yeah, when it sticks to your body like _glue_."

Sam and Tucker got into a debate about the merits of leather as Danny fell back slightly, amused, content to be a third-party observer to the argument. She always _did_ end up playing peacemaker when the argument got too heated.

_Wonder what mom and dad have in store for me..._


	13. 61509: Hanged Man

**Author note**: About Sam's jacket and the last prompt...it's not real cow-leather, it just looks like it, but the distinction is fine enough that I didn't feel like going into it. -_-b Thank you for pointing out my little hiccups, though!

**Disclaimer**: Not mine

**163 Hanged man**

For the most part, Danny wasn't spiritual or superstitious. She believed in a Higher Power she didn't bother defining and was utterly convinced that her life was her own—nothing determined it but her own choices.

However, being half-ghost gives one a new perspective on the supernatural.

She had fallen into possession of a pack of tarot cards, through one way or another, and would occasionally pick out a card or shuffle them idly when she was bored. It gave her hands something to do, and she found the little one-card spread entertaining. She didn't believe them in the least, but they were...interesting.

She retrieved the pack from the depths of one of her desk's drawers and began to absently shuffle them as her mind wandered.

Her mom and dad's 'surprise' had ruined her summer vacation. Completely. There was no possible way to salvage it—except, perhaps, running away. That would be undignified and childish, though, and Danny just wasn't that way. Anymore.

But, _damn,_ was it tempting.

"Because the economy has been so bad of late, we looked for a job for you as well," her father had started.

"What?! You know I can handle that—"

"We found one."

Danny blinked and became wary. "Where?"

"With Vlad! You'll be helping her out with her company," her mother chirped cheerfully.

A sense of horror and apprehension seeped through Danny. "Thanks, but I think I can manage something," Danny said, feeling oddly disconnected from her voice.

"Vlad said she'd pay you well and that the hours wouldn't be long—the normal 9-to-5. The work won't be challenging and it might help you get over whatever...enmity...you seem to have with Vlad," her father reassured her.

_I'm that obvious?_ Danny thought fleetingly. "How much?" she found herself asking and nearly kicked herself. She wasn't taking this seriously!...Right?

In the end, her parents wore her down and she accepted the job with a heavy heart. _An entire summer with Vlad? I'm going to _kill_ myself!_

Danny's mind returned to the present and she looked down at the cards passing across her hands. She stopped shuffling and flipped the top card over.

_The Hanged Man...what the hell does that mean?_ Danny placed her deck to the side while the card remained before her as she looked up the card's meaning online.

_Look at things in a different way...relinquish control...balanced sacrifice? What the fuck?_

Danny leaned back in her chair and squinted at the card before her, as if looking at it hard enough would help her understand what its presence in her life meant. After a long moment of silence she shook her head and placed the card back in the deck.

_It means nothing. It has only as much power as you give it. Forget about it, Danny—it's nonsense._

Feeling a little better after telling herself that, she put it out of her mind and pondered how to tell her friends that she'd be working with her archenemy for an entire summer.

–


	14. 61609: Good morning

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**70 Good morning**

"_You're_ a bright ray of sunshine today."

"Mornin' to you too," Danny grumbled as she met up with her friend, trying her hardest to shake off her anxiety.

"Ready for the tests today?" Tucker asked as they meandered to their lockers in the oddly still hall.

"Think so," Danny replied as she opened her locker. "What d'you have today?"

"Social studies and math. You?"

"Same. Funny how we weren't in the same period but still have to take the final together," Danny murmured, slightly amused.

Tucker shrugged. "Meh. What's the rest of your schedule?"

"Tomorrow, English. Thursday, Astro and language. Tech had a final project and nothing for lunch or gym. You?"

"More or less the same, 'cept I have my computer class tomorrow and only language on Thursday. Luck that we get everything done quickly, huh?"

Danny nodded in agreement.

"How's Sam's?" Tucker asked.

Danny shrugged. "I dunno. It doesn't really matter—I think he's done Thursday as well."

"Dude, you should _know_ these things! You're _dating!_"

"That doesn't mean we have to tell each other every minute detail of our lives," Danny half-snapped in reply.

"Whoa, relax!" Tucker said, holding her hands up in an unconscious placating gesture. "What, you guys have a spat or something?"

Danny sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Nah, I'm just on edge is all. Tests are looming and I _need_ to pass them. I'm also _dreading_ my summer."

"What? Why?"

"I'm being employed by Vlad! My parents arranged it and I can't escape it!" Danny growled, frustrated. She closed her locker softly but emphatically, not wanting to get in trouble for making too much noise.

"Whoa. That _really_ sucks," Tucker said.

"_Tell_ me about it!" Danny took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Right now, I have tests, though. One thing at a time, right?"

Tucker gave her best friend an attempt at a reassuring smile. "Right."


	15. 61709: Gravity

**Disclaimer**: No.

**182 Gravity**

Gravity was a _bitch_.

Danny's back hit the pavement _hard_, causing her to gasp in pain. With a wince she rolled out of the way of a blast of ectoenergy and growled softly. "Look, I'm in a _really_ bad mood right now," she told the ghost who was attacking her, pushing herself back into the air, defying the pull of gravity once more.

"Sorry, ghost-child, but I don't _care,_" Skulker drawled, reloading her equipment.

Surprisingly, a smirk found its way onto Danny's face. "You don't, huh? You _really should,_" Danny half-purred before lunging at Skulker.

Before the mechanical ghost could react, Danny had delivered a series of hits that rendered a lot of Skulker's suit obsolete and watched the ghost fall victim to the pull of gravity, a slight smirk forming on her lips at the loud _crash._

She blinked and shook herself before landing next to the downed ghost, picking up the helmet and turning it over so the small _true_ ghost landed in her hand.

"Look, Skulkie. I am going to be in a _very bad mood_ for the rest of this week...actually, for the majority of the summer. So, if you _don't_ want your suit to be reduced to scrap metal each time we meet, I suggest that you _lay off_."

The ghost merely spewed a litany of insults at Danny, who sighed in resignation. The half-ghost opened up a portal to the Ghost Zone and chucked the ghost back into the parallel realmn.

Danny sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She paused and looked at it, frowning.

_Has it gotten longer? _She wondered.

"_There_ you are!"

Danny yelped and phased intangible in time for a bolt of energy to fly through her, followed shortly thereafter by one annoyed ghost hunter. Danny turned invisible as well, and did her best to suppress her ice energy.

Val had somehow developed equipment that allowed him to track her using her abnormally low temperature. From the frustrated noises the ghost hunter was making, it was apparently working. Danny, however, didn't feel like courting gravity again and flew away. She'd have to tell Val _someday_ that ghost-girl equaled Danny Fenton, but, until then...

Well, their confrontations were good practice at evasive maneuvers.


	16. 61809: Clock

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**158 Clock**

The sound of the clock ticking in the classroom was loud and harsh in Danny's ears. Each _tic_ grated across her nerves, reminding her of the steady passage of time. Every second passing was a second wasted as she stared blankly at the questions that seemed to meld into one large '_you're so screwed'_ on her paper.

And she had spent _a lot_ of time studying for the language test!

She put her pencil down and buried her head in her hands, taking a few deep breaths. _C'mon, Danny. You beat down ghosts _all the time._ Surely one little test won't beat you? If you can't handle this, how will you handle college?_

Which caused a whole new wave of anxiety to flow through Danny.

She fought her panic down before glaring at the test before her. _I'm going to do well on this! I studied and prepared and I'm _not_ hopeless at this subject. I'm going to do well._ The thought strengthened Danny's resolve, and she started the test again with _purpose_.

In the room, the clock began to tick again.


	17. 61909: Strawberries

**Author**: Thank you for reading!

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**298 Strawberries**

Danny sat in the Op Center and looked out on the town as she occasionally nibbled through a carton of strawberries she had brought up with her.

For some reason, summer and strawberries went together in her head. Perhaps it was the result of commercials, tv shows, and/or movies she had seen when she was younger. Maybe it was because of something her family had done when she was a kid. It didn't _really_ matter _why—_she just associated the fruit and the season together. Like...apples and fall. Pomegranates and winter. She didn't really have a spring fruit—perhaps it was because with international trade and greenhouses you could theoretically get any kind of fruit any time of the year (although it was ridiculously hard to find pomegranates in summer).

Danny bit into a berry and scrunched her face up. The sour ones were the _worst._ She liked the really big, juicy, sweet ones that were a deep crimson, without that kind of faded maroon color on them where they had been squished against either the carton or another strawberry.

She put the leafy top of the berry into the lid of the carton before thoughtfully picking out a new berry. She probably should be out enjoying the weather and hanging out with her friends, but, for once, she was being anti-social. Maybe if they called she'd invite them over and they could all hang out in the Op center...but after all those _goddamn_ tests...she needed some time to decompress.

_I wonder what it'll be like, working for _her? Danny mused, propping her feet up on a nearby chair. _I can't _believe_ she managed to convince my parents. What'll she have be do, anyway? It's not like I have any skills that'll be helpful._

A wave of chagrin flowed over Danny and she smiled weakly. _Not that I _have_ skills. Crap. Gotta work on that one._

Danny sighed faintly and leaned her head back so she was looking at the ceiling, a strawberry held delicately, absently, between her fingers. _I mean, judging from our fights, I don't expect her to be a _nice_ boss. She'll probably continue to try and convert me to her weird Evil Overlady blah._

Danny smirked faintly. _I'd like to see her try. Because, well..._

_We're not really that different._

–


	18. 62009: Dog

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**316 Dog**

Danny had become better at handling Cujo—it had taken a lot of trials and effort, and more than a few near-fatal encounters with Val, but Danny had finally gotten to the point where Cujo would actively _listen_ to her.

It was actually kinda fun, having a ghost for a pet. Broaching the 'can I keep it?' with her dad was..._interesting_...to say the least.

"I've already been training it and everything! It doesn't make the same kind of messes as a _normal_ dog, it makes a great guard-dog, it doesn't _really_ eat anything, and if it gets annoying I can take it into the Ghost Zone and let it romp free there," Danny said without bothering for a breath, giving her dad an expectant look.

She didn't know that beside her, Cujo was giving almost the exact same look.

Her father looked between the dog and her and sighed. "You're _leaving_ for _college_ and I don't know if it'll listen to anyone else."

"See, that's _why_, though. I mean, I can't take it with me to school—they don't allow pets, and I think ghost dogs fall underneath that heading—but _someone_ needs to take care of it. Right?" she asked the dog, turning to face it and kneeling down to scratch underneath the dog's chin, earning a happy dog grin.

"It had to have survived before you came around. If you say it's a good guard dog, shouldn't it be able to fend for itself?"

Danny caught the peculiar light in Cujo's eyes that said it was about to go all monster, but a light slap on the muzzle brought it back to reality. The dog gave Danny a slightly abashed look and Danny sighed.

"Well, yeah, it can, but I've tamed it enough that it's become..._slightly_...reliant on humans. Or half-humans," Danny added, reminding her father covertly that while Danny might _appear_ normal, she still had the other side to her, the...not-human one.

There was a brief flash of understanding as her father caught the implications in Danny's statement before he sighed. "Neither your mother nor I know how to care for _ghost_ dogs. I had a _normal_ one when I was a kid, but it was more my _mom's_ dog than mine."

Cujo made an unhappy whimper and Danny absently petted it. "I...guess I understand. Well, can I keep it _here_ for the duration of the summer? Maybe I can find a way around the no-pet policy in the dorm..."

An idea hit her than made her squelch a grin. _Think I could get _Vlad_ to take care of it for me? Certainly better than a _cat_, right?_

Her father gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Danny, but keeping a ghost in a house full of anti-ghost weaponry is..."

"Unsafe. I know," Danny finished with a slight strain to her voice.

Her father closed the distance between them and lightly hugged Danny.

Danny hugged her dad back, eyes closing slightly. "I know, I know," she murmured. "It's just..."

"It's okay. We're sorry about that."

They pulled back and gave each other small smiles. "You promise to keep it out of trouble?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah..."

"You can keep it for the summer, but you have to figure out what to do with it when you aren't home."

Danny gave her dad a grin and Cujo barked, indicating its own happiness. Danny bent down and picked the dog up, cradling it in her arms. It licked her face and the smile grew. "Thanks, dad!" she said before trotting up the stairs towards her room.

"Now to see if we can get Vlad to take you in by the end of the summer. Think I can manage it?" she asked the dog as she placed it down on the bed she had bought for it.

The dog looked at her quizzically before turning its attention to making the bed to its liking.

Danny sighed and smiled faintly.


	19. 62109: Explosion

**Disclaimer**: nope.

**289 Explosion**

Danny would occasionally wake up with her heart racing and breath coming far too shallow, memories of an explosion that never happened whirling through her skull. The memory of that _one_ moment of helplessness, that _one_ time that she swore her heart stopped beating, was forever seared into her mind. Every now and then it would come back to haunt Danny's dreams, taunting her with just how close she had come to losing everything she loved.

She would lie in bed, her head spinning, eyes fixed onto a point somewhere beyond her ceiling as she tried to overcome the all-consuming terror and guilt. She _knew_ for certain that she would _never_ become that creature, but she was constantly reminded by her subconscious about _just how close_ she had come.

It didn't help that the memory had become even clearer since she had made _that_ decision...

In her darker moments, she mused as to what exactly had driven her to thinking that separating her ghost and human halves was a good idea. She figured that the guilt she felt peripherally in her dreams must have been so all-consuming that it overrode everything else.

This night, she found herself considering what her nightmare meant. Surely if it were reoccurring, it had something to tell her, right?

_Why separate the halves_? She thought through the dredges of the nightmare, the bright, blinding light of the explosion slowly fading from her mind. _In which half was I thinking of continuing in? I mean, was my primary consciousness with the ghost form? I must have assumed that if I tried to get rid of 'painful _human_ emotions'. _

Her mind began to lazily wander in circles. _Would there be _two_ Danny Fentons? Human-Danny and ghost-Danny? Would they become two separate people as time went on? Could they have developed radically different personalities? Would they somehow be less for not being one whole being? I mean, I can kinda see that since it the ghost-half seemed to have inherited all the worst traits of me. _

_Does that mean that my human half would have been the better part? Does that mean that, inherently, my ghost half is _evil?_ While I think that, from human standards, my ghostly inclinations _would_ be considered more on the evil side of the moral scale, I'm still capable of acting in an ethical way in that form. If my ghost form was _pure_ evil, then that wouldn't be the case, right?_

Danny sighed and shook herself, pulling the blankets more securely around her. "This is dumb. It's just trying to tell you to avoid that kind of situation. Go back to sleep," she told herself resolutely. She closed her eyes, but found that her restless mind wouldn't settle down again, leaving her constantly on the edge of sleep.


	20. 62209: Dishes

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**119 Dishes**

"You know, there are times I wish my family was even _marginally_ normal," Danny told Cujo as she did the dishes (ever since that ecto-sample had gotten in the dishwasher, Danny hadn't trusted the appliance—with good reason). "I mean, just _once_ I'd like them to 'go to work' so I could have the run of the house to myself. But, nope. They're both inventors, which means they both work from home."

Danny sighed. "I guess that wasn't _all_ bad when I was a little kid—mom was always around, so I never felt _lonely._ But now...I'd like a little _privacy_ ever now and then, y'know?" she said, gesturing slightly with the towel she was using.

"Not for anything _bad_," she added with a small sigh. "It's just...I'd like _them_ to trust _me_. But, now...with me telling them about me being Danny Phantom...well, there's some damage control to do. 'Why didn't you _trust_ us?'"

Danny shook her head and put away a number of plates, using her intangibility powers to rearrange the cabinet to everything fit nicely. "Let's see—you only tried to _kill_ me," Danny muttered. Cujo whined softly and Danny gave it a chagrined smile. "Yeah, I know, it's in the past and all, but...it's still something we have to work through entirely, y'know?"

Cujo barked and jumped up enough to place its front paws on Danny's shin. Danny smiled. "Want to go for a _walk_?"  
The dog's ears perked up and its tail began to wag so hard Danny thought it might detach from its body. Danny grinned and put her towel down, phasing the water off of her own hands. "C'mon, let's go," she said as she walked towards the door, the dog dancing around her heels.

She opened the door and the dog bounded down the steps to wait at the sidewalk for Danny. "Now, remember—no going monster on any other dogs," Danny said sternly as she reached the sidewalk.

The dog looked put-out, making Danny chuckle. "C'mon. Let's go see what Tuck's up to."

The dog barked in assent and Danny smiled at it as they walked towards Tucker's house.


	21. 62309: Moments

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**90 Moments**

It was one of those moments that, while not being 'unforgettable', would nevertheless remain fairly clear in Danny's memory.

Afterall, it wasn't _every_ day that you graduated from High School, right?

Danny was happily allowing her internal air-conditioning system to keep her comfortable while the soon-to-be-graduates of Casper High sat in the sweltering sun, wearing uncomfortable robes in the school's colors, listening to people talk about things they weren't interested in listening to. First and foremost in everyone's minds was something along the lines of: _Finally!_

Well, that's what Danny _guessed._ She would bet that there were some people who would be sad to see High School pass, but _Danny_ wasn't one of them.

Danny looked at her unhappy friend sitting next to her and reached out covertly, putting a hand on Tucker's robe, weaving a small amount of ice energy into it. The girl jumped slightly before giving Danny a grateful smile.

Danny returned the smile before settling back in her seat, crossing her legs and arms. A look of brief distaste flickered across her face before she sighed softly.

She didn't have anything _nice_ and _light_ in her closet, and her family had been too busy to go out and buy a graduation outfit, so she was wearing _that_ outfit, the one _Vlad_ had given her (although this time _with_ underwear, thank god). It was frustrating...demeaning...annoying. She hated being in debt in any way to the bitch.

She had set up a ghost shield around the graduation ceremony, so she needn't worry about a ghost interrupting things. It was, a relief in a way, but every now and then she'd find herself fiddling with the necklace that had come along with the outfit, just to give herself something to _do_.

_Opal for your ghost power and sapphire for your eyes..._

Danny scowled and shook herself inwardly. _My eyes aren't _that_ blue! They're lighter—wouldn't turquoise or aquamarine have been a better choice?_ There was a brief beat of inward astonishment. _Why am I thinking of this anyway?!_

Danny wrenched her attention back to the ceremony, and was relieved to see that the precession was about to start.

_Huh. Soon I'll be a _graduate._ That means that I never have to come back here again. No more Casper High...wow, that's a weird thought._

Danny watched the rows in front of her stand, and found her mind wandering and wondering at how this would—and would _not—_change her life.


	22. 62409: Vacation

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**16 Vacation**

"So. We graduated."

"Yeah, and it's _finally_ summer vacation."

"Well, a vacation for _you_ guys. You're not the one stuck working with your arch-enemy."

"That really sucks, doesn't it?"

"We'll be here for you—you know that."

"And anyway, you can annoy the _hell_ out of her all the time and maybe she'll let you go so you can do something else."

"Like trailing along behind her and going 'why? Why? Why?' every five seconds?"

"That'd work."

"But it's so..._kiddy."_

"As long as it works, who cares how immature it is?"

"O-kay. We're getting away from Vlad. What are your plans for vacation otherwise?"

"Well, planning on the beach at least _once_."

"Yeah, and maybe we can go to the theme park nearby."

"We should go to those places on a Tuesday or something. _Definitely_ not the weekend—they'll be crowded as all holy hell."

"Makes sense."

"But, for now, abscond to Sam's basement, relax in the sweet airconditioning, and play video games until we pass out?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Alright! C'mon!"


	23. 62509: Cooking

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**42 Cooking**

Danny, unfortunately, happened to be the best cook in the Fenton household. Now that she was home, and without school to distract her, it had been tacitly delegated to her to design what they were to eat. Jazz would occasionally help and Cujo was more than happy to clean up anything that happened to fall on the floor, but overall it was Danny's responsibility.

So she had decided that her family would be her guinea pigs, whether they wanted to be or not.

She dug up her mother's cookbook and began to leisurely leaf through it, amused at how old-fashioned some of the cooking methods were.

_Then again, this was printed in the 80s, right? Some of the tech has improved since then,_ she thought with some amusement. _I just feel so damn _domestic.

Just cooking itself was an adventure, especially with how randomly contaminated everything in their kitchen was. Danny discovered that she more-or-less had to gut the entire kitchen of appliances before being able to cook anything without mutating it. Her father had been both amused and exasperated at her purchasing spree.

"I suppose it was about time we replaced stuff," Maddie said with a bemused expression.

Danny shrugged as she hooked up the new things she had bought. "Well, at least with stuff that isn't ghost-possessed. Having the toast attack you with ectobeams makes it hard to make breakfast."

Maddie chuckled softly. "I guess. You know, we could have _made_ these things."

"I guess. It's just...they'd already be ghost-ified and that's what I want to avoid."

Maddie sighed softly before patting his daughter's shoulder. "Fine, fine. How'd you pay for all of this?"

"Remember that gift Vlad sent me last year for Christmas?"

"The check? You never did tell me how much it was for..."

"It was enough to cover the cost of buying all that I did."

Maddie's eyebrows raised towards his hairline. "I see."

Danny shrugged. "I figured it was a good investment. Just...try not to contaminate these, please."

"We'll do our best," Maddie assured his daughter. "Now, what are you planning on making?" he asked, curious, looking over Danny's shoulder to the cookbook resting in front of her.

Danny abruptly turned it invisible. "That's a surprise."

Maddie blinked, momentarily perplexed, before finally connection the disappearance of the cookbook to Danny's powers and sighed. "Nothing spicy? You know your mother can't handle excessively spicy foods."

"Promise it isn't."

"Alright. In that case, I look forward to seeing what you make."

"You won't be disappointed—promise."

"I'll hold you to that," Maddie said before ruffling Danny's hair and walking off.

Danny smiled faintly as she watched her father depart before looking over at Cujo, who was sitting quite happily on the counter. "Down," she instructed seriously and the dog gave a sigh before phasing down onto the kitchen floor.


	24. 62609: Demons

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**150 Demons**

Danny had her share of demons—although there was one in particular that consistently haunted her nightmares.

_You don't get it do you? I'm _still here. _ I _still exist.

Danny swallowed hard as she looked blankly at her computer screen.

_No, I took _care_ of that problem. I made sure that will _never_ happen...Clockwork assured me and I believe her. Oddly enough._

This, of course, prompted the memory to slowly float through her mind.

"_Are you sure you want to do this?" Clockwork had asked in that somehow soothing monotone._

_Danny had nodded. "Yeah. It's...it's a way to make sure _that_ never happens, right? It's also a way to keep her from ever escaping and wrecking havoc on me and all the people I love."_

"_It will change everything. Especially you." _

_Danny had hesitated, but steeled her resolve. "I know. But it's for the best."_

"_If you say so," Clockwork had responded. "I will set you two in a pocket time—no time will have passed in the outside world no matter how long you take."_

_Danny had given the ghost of time an unsure-but-game smile. "Thanks."_

"_I wonder if you will feel that way once everything has played out..."_

Danny yanked herself out of the memory and sighed heavily.

_It was for the best,_ she asserted again. "Although the ghost wasn't lying when she said it would change me," she murmured aloud before closing down the window she had open to DOOM, bidding her friends farewell.

A smile briefly flickered across her face as she leaned back in the chair, eyes focusing on a point beyond the ceiling. "I wonder what they would think about my decision..."


	25. 62709: Cookies

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**179 Cookies**

"Danny, what are you doing?"

"Making cookies."

"Why?"

"It's therapeutic."

"What has you so...antsy?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just going to start _working_ with _Vlad_ starting _Monday._"

"Mm," Jazz murmured and picked up one of the cooling cookies. "Hey, they're not zooming off the walls."

"Yeah, I know," Danny said with some amount of satisfaction. "It's nice having food that isn't trying to eat you, isn't it?"

Jazz snickered and took a bite. A look of surprise briefly flitted across his face. "Hey, this is good!"  
"Thanks," Danny replied dryly as she put gobs of cookie dough on a tray as she waited for one in the oven to finish.

"No, I'm serious!" Jazz replied. "What kind is this?"

"Hm? Oh, I took a recipe I found in mom's unused recipe can and modified it slightly. I'm quite proud of the results."

"Turning into a chemist, are we?" Jazz murmured before taking another bite.

"Baking is _not_ chemistry. Remember that chem was my worst subject _ever_?"

"You're just being dramatic," Jazz teased before picking up two more cookies. "I'll leave you to being a little domestic housewife," he concluded with a grin, ducking under the spatula Danny half-heartedly threw at him.

"I am _not_ a _housewife!_" Danny snapped before grumbling uncomplimentary things about big brothers.


	26. 62809: Broken

**Disclaimer:** Nope.

**264 Broken**

You're broken, I can _feel_ it. I can feel all the sharp edges that time never healed, I can feel the gaping loneliness that was compounded by empty years and agonizing mistakes melding into one large ball of _hurt_. All the power games, all the destruction, all the manipulation was so that you could _feel_ something other than shattered. Experience something other than all-consuming grief that drives you to your knees.

To compensate for the injustice you perceive the world had leveled against you, you turned it all against itself, bending nations to _your_ will—justification for the conspiracy theorists. There was nothing outside your ken, nothing beyond your influence, and you _reveled_ in it.

All to prevent yourself from dwelling on the fact that a yawning hole existed within you. Perhaps, if you ignored it long enough, it would go away. Perhaps, if you pushed it out of your mind far enough, you would no longer crave affection and affirmation.

Your power was enough. Of course—no need for paltry human emotions, afterall.

But most ghosts come from humans—and you came from _two_. Emotions are essential to your very being—why else would you have the drive you do?

Beneath all the darkness, beneath all the pain, beneath all the pure, undiluted _malice_, there still exists that tiny ball of Danny Phantom.

And _that_ is why I can _accept_ you _as you are_. Let me put together the pieces, let me smooth all the jagged edges, let me draw the poison of your pain away. My power level can't match yours, and, as you expect everything I can do now, I _can't_ _beat_ you.

But I _can_ heal you.

And that is why I've won.


	27. 62909: Say It

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**272 Say It**

"Say it, _saaaay_ it."

"No! You _can't make me!_"

"I won, and you know it."

"I refuse to believe that I lost to _you_!"

"Oh, get over it. Keeping you from using your cheat codes—"

"I do _not_ use cheat codes!"

"Yes, you do."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"I _so_ do not!"

"Then how the hell do you get such good armor when we start at the same point?"

"It just shows how superior in skill I am."

"Bullshit."

"You wound me."

"Again, bullshit."

"..."

"Want to play again?"

"Hell yeah. And I'm gonna beat you, as usual."

"No you won't!"

"Bring it, bitch."

"You're gonna eat those words."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Whatever. Let's get started."


	28. 63009: Jeans

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**312 Jeans**

Danny shifted beneath the scrutiny of the older half-ghost before finally snapping, "What?"

"That's all the nice outfits you have, isn't it?" Vlad said.

"What?"

"What you wore yesterday, and that _charming_ outfit you are wearing now are the only two pieces of nice clothes you have."

"They are not!" Danny denied, flushing in embarrassment.

Vlad raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing Danny. She pressed a button on the phone on her desk. "Do I have any pressing appointments today?" she asked her receptionist.

"No, nothing," came the reply after a moment.

"I am going to be away from the office for the rest of the day. If anything _truly_ important comes up, contact me on my Blackberry."

"Very well, Ms. Mayor."

Vlad hung up before giving Danny a look that made the teen nervous. "What?"

"You and I, my dear girl, are going to get you some outfits that are not jeans and a T-shirt. Afterall, a poorly dressed aid reflects badly on me. And we can't have that, can we?"

"Wait, what—"

Vlad had covered the distance between them with remarkable ease and speed, her hand lightly grasping Danny's forearm. "Come. I'm sure we'll find something that suits you," Vlad murmured.

Danny had a brief feeling of vertigo before she found herself in what appeared to be a mall, hidden from casual view.

"Where are we?"

"It doesn't matter," Vlad half-purred. "I'm going to buy you clothes that are befitting of your position in my staff."

"Whoa, whoa, _wait!_" Danny protested as Vlad dragged her away.


	29. 70109: Makeup

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**106 Make up**

"Where were you yesterday?" Jazz asked from his position on the couch as Danny walked in, not really looking up. "You were gone long after you should have returned home. Was it a ghost?"

The young half-ghost glowered at the floor. "I wish. No, Vlad took me _shopping_," she grumbled before flopping down next to her older brother.

"She did _what_?" Jazz exclaimed, head snapping up.

"Took me _shopping!_ She made me get all these suits and really formal nonsense that is apparently being tailored to conform to my 'delicate frame'," Danny growled, fingers forming quotation marks around _delicate frame._ "And _then_ she dragged me to a make-up shop and bought _more_ stuff that _she_ kept, saying that I wouldn't know how to do it right anyway, so she'd teach me how to use it later. I don't _like_ make-up!"

"So that's why you look so pretty today, huh?"

"I feel like a _clown_," Danny growled.

"Still, gotta wonder _why_ Vlad did that."

"Cause she likes torturing me, that's why!"

Jazz rolled his eyes. "Stop being so dramatic. It's not that much of a departure from her behavior towards you recently, though..."

"What?"

"Dude, Danny, remember what your gifts were for Christmas and your birthday? _Those_ weren't things an enemy would give you."

"She's just trying to get me on her side," Danny groused.

"I suppose," Jazz conceded. "Still, even for Vlad, your Christmas check wasn't pocket change."

Danny shifted uncomfortably. "I guess. She's got something planned, though. I _know_ it."

"The question is, _what_ does she have planned...?"


	30. 70209: Watch

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**130 Watch**

"A watch?"

"In hopes of curing your chronic lateness."

Danny bristled. "Only because ghosts get in my way! Don't you have some influence? Tell them to back off!"

"What's in it for _me_ if I do that, hm? Having them still try to beat you into a pulp serves my purposes more than telling them to leave you alone."

"WHAT?!" Danny half-yelled.

Vlad tsk'd. "Temper, temper, Danielle," she said with amusement thick in her voice.

Danny glowered at the floor. "What _purpose_ does them making my life difficult serve _you_?"

"It trains you," Vlad said nonchalantly and settled herself behind her desk, shuffling papers around, organizing herself.

Danny frowned. "Wouldn't that be _bad_ for you, if I get stronger?"

"On the contrary, my dear girl," Vlad said, a small half-smile on her face. "What fun is there in fighting a _weak_ opponent?"

Danny's eyes narrowed and she flushed slightly, although from what emotion she was unsure. She looked away and at the watch that Vlad had given her. She blinked and her eyebrows raised slightly. "This is a really nice watch."

"Of course it is," Vlad said dryly. "Try not to lose it. It won't _break_, because of a few..._modifications_...I made, and is ghost-resistant."

Danny looked between Vlad and the watch before sighing and slipping the functional piece of jewelery onto her wrist. "Okay, so, what am I gonna do today...?"


	31. 70309: Best Friend

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**266 Best friend**

"So, you survived your first week with Plasmius as your boss," Tucker said as she and Danny lounged in Tucker's room, Tucker tinkering with her new iPhone applications and Danny merely lying on the floor, eyes closed.

"Barely," she moaned. "She's a fucking _slavedriver_!"

"Oh?" Tucker asked, curious.

"And it's not _interesting_ stuff, either," Danny said with bitterly. "No, it's all filing and stupid paperwork that she can't be bothered with and running little errands that are made _marginally_ easier by my ghost powers."

"Errands? Like, 'get me lunch'?"

"She tried that once. I told her to shove it. She just _smirked_ at me, the _bitch._"

"Is that watch new?"

Danny opened her eyes and raised her wrist, looking at the time-keeping device on her wrist. "Yeah, it's new. _She_ gave it to me."

"Seriously?"

"Dude, she fucking bought me an entire _wardrobe_ so that I 'don't reflect poorly on her'," Danny said, fingers forming quotes around _don't reflect poorly on her._

Tucker snickered. "Oh, horror or horrors, my archenemy is lavishing gifts on me instead of trying to beat the shit out of me. What ever shall I do?"

Danny frowned and gave her best friend a mild glare. "It's suspicious! Why would she do that?"

"Dude, aside from wanting you as a mini-Vlad?"

There was a brief silence. "Point. She should know by now that it won't work."

"Hope springs eternal—especially in rich, obsessive frootloops, I guess."

Danny laughed at Tucker's use of Danny's derogatory nickname for Vlad. "I guess," she affirmed. "Just hope she runs out of stuff for me to do so I can get out of working for her earlier."

"Good luck with _that_ one," Tucker drawled as she popped bubble-wrap on her phone.

Danny smiled faintly and shook her head, closing her eyes again. Having Tucker as a friend was a god-send.


	32. 70409: Fireworks

**Author**: Happy 4th to all my American readers! Looks like our country survived another year...

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**10 Fireworks**

Danny sat high in the air, watching as the fireworks exploded at her eye-level. It was a completely different perspective than what you got when watching them from the ground. She had her ears plugged so that the noise didn't get to her, but flying intangible through the sparks of fireworks was a pleasantly funny sensation. Like very warm rain.

She had a clone watching from the Op Center with Sam and Tuck, while the real-Danny was hovering in midair, shoulders slowly unwinding. The noise and flashing colors and the like all combined to make Danny feel strangely alive.

_I should make a move that mimics fireworks,_ she thought idly. _Lots of noise and light. It'd be a...a...distraction. A way to escape with Sam and Tuck or something. Huh. Have to work on that._

She sat back and a soft smile formed on her face as she watched fireworks blossom in spectacular color before fading into nothing more than smoke...


	33. 70509: Hurt

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**184 Hurt**

Danny grumbled and unwrapped the light, gauzy bandage she had looped around her forearm. She hadn't phased intangible fast enough to avoid a burning cinder from an illegal firework and her ectoplasm healed burns more slowly than normal wounds (this knowledge came from a previous encounter), and it _itched_ in human form as it healed.

Jazz, of course, walked in on Danny grumbling in the basement.

"You hurt yourself?" Jazz asked, a reproach in his voice that made Danny twitch.

"It's nothing," the half-ghost said,

"How'd it happen? There were no ghost attacks yesterday," Jazz murmured, walking briskly over to Danny, taking her arm gently.

Danny allowed her brother to examine her arm. "Look, it really is nothing. It's healing, don't worry. My genetics don't permit me to stay injured for very long."

"Nevertheless, you need to be _careful._ How did you get a _burn_, anyway?"

"Watching fireworks," Danny grumbled, yanking her arm away and covering the wound with new gauzy bandages.

"Watching fireworks," Jazz repeated, obviously incredulous. "Most of the stuff that'd burn you goes out far above..." Jazz sighed gustily. "You were floating and watching them, weren't you?"

"It's a nice view!" Danny protested. "It's...different."  
"It's not good if it gets you hurt. Promise me you won't do that again?"

"_Jazz,_ it wasn't even the legal stuff that got me hurt. Some idiot set off one he had bought illegally and I was surprised by it. I avoided it, for the most part. It coulda been _much_ worse."

"_Don't. _Tell me anymore," Jazz said, rubbing his eyes. "Look, at least _try_ to keep yourself in one piece when not fighting ghosts. I'd hate to explain to mom and dad that you got killed because for some _stupid_ reason and not fighting to protect humanity from ghostly adversaries. It's hard enough on them that they've found out they were trying to kill _you_. Try not to kill yourself."

Danny frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothing, why?" Jazz replied.

"You're not usually this overprotective."

Jazz merely raised an eyebrow. "You're reading too much into things. You're almost 18 and have been cheating death for almost 4 years. I don't _have_ to worry about you."

_But I do anyway,_ was left unspoken.

So, instead, Danny merely rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. I'll be _okay_. Go do whatever overly-smart people do in their spare time. Go play chess against a computer and win."

Jazz snickered and ruffled Danny's hair perhaps a little more roughly than necessary, causing the half-ghost to voice a wordless sound of protest.

–


	34. 70609: Frown

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**203 Frown**

"Danielle."

There was a frown in Vlad's voice that made Danny twitch, yet also made her slightly nervous. "What?" she asked, turning away from the computer that Vlad had her working on.

"You are 17, correct?"

"18 in a month from tomorrow."

"And yet you still look like a 14 year-old."

_That_ caused Danny to bristle. "Not _my_ fault I develop late!"

"Have you ever had any blood tests done to check hormone levels?"

"What? Why?"

"I remember that when I was first afflicted with ectoacne that my hormone levels were off-kilter. They eventually stabilized, but that was after some active intervention on my part. _That_ happened when a blast only hit my _face_. I can't imagine how the magnitude of the shock you received has affected your body."

"What, so you think that the reason I got no chest is because I _haven't gone through puberty_?"

"More or less," Vlad said with a shrug. "But that's just speculation. Even with the effect on age, you should have developed into an adult by now."

"What? What effect on my age?"

At this, Vlad looked a little surprised, and almost _embarrassed._ "You haven't figured it out yet?"

"No, so tell me," Danny said almost sullenly.

"Danielle, the only way you're ever going to die is if someone kills you."

Danny blinked and was silent for a long moment. "_What_?!" She hissed heatedly. "What do you mean?"

Vlad sighed. "I mean that once you hit maturity—whenever _that_ happens—you _stay_ that age until someone goes out of their way to rid you of your mortal coil. And even _then_ you will _still_ survive as your ghostly self."

_That_ caused Danny pause. "Vlad...uh...has anyone figured out how to kill a ghost?"

"Yes. I can, I just choose not to. It's not worth the energy expended." There was a pause as Vlad regarded her thoughtfully. "Why?"

Danny's eyes grew haunted. "Because if I ever _do_ die and become full-ghost, I want you to kill me."

Vlad frowned deeply at that, a crease appearing between her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"It's...complicated. Just, promise me...?"

"If you let me run blood tests on you to check your hormone levels and aid you if necessary, then yes."

Danny gave her arch-enemy a relieved smile. "Fine. Just don't go out of your way to make the blood-drawing any more painful than necessary."

"My dear girl, I _like_ you—why would I do that?"

Danny stared at Vlad for a _long_ time, but Vlad didn't bother to follow up on that comment. So, shaking her head and muttering something about frootloops, Danny turned back to her task.


	35. 70709: Mowing the lawn

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**30 Mowing the lawn**

After a day of working with Vlad, confined in an office for hours on end, Danny really didn't mind mowing the tiny excuse for a backyard that her family had. And then her boyfriend's. And then her best friend's. The physical exercise was therapeutic. With the amount of ghost attacks having fallen markedly, she had little in the way of physical release.

The bloodwork Vlad had done that day hadn't helped her nerves any.

True, it _hadn't_ hurt, and Vlad had been gentle, but that in and of itself was unnerving. _Vlad_ and _gentle_ didn't really go together in her mind.

Seeing the red and glowing green mixture outside her body was slightly odd, though.

"I always thought I had ectoplasm in my blood, but when I was bleeding I never bothered to really look," Danny observed almost distantly.

"Mm," Vlad murmured, putting the vial aside in a device she had brought with her to her office. "You have more than I do," she said absently. "I suppose it's another side effect of your shock..."

"What?"

Vlad shrugged. "It's nothing. The results will get back on Friday." Vlad tapped on the box thoughtfully. "All you have to do is wait until then."

"You say that like it's easy," Danny grumbled.

Vlad had merely snickered.

Danny wiped the perspiration off of her forehead and leaned against the handle of the lawnmower. Her nervous energy still wasn't quite dissipated, but she was feeling a little light-headed.

_Guess Vlad took more than I thought she did,_ she thought woozily.

She shook her head and tapped her ice energy, sending it coursing through her, refreshing her and allowing her to brush off the sweat as little ice flakes.

"Danny, why don't you take a break?" Tucker said from her perch on the front step. "You look like you're about to faint."

Danny scoffed. "I'm Danny Phantom—Danny Phantom doesn't _faint._"

"Fine, pass out then," Tucker said dryly, rolling her eyes.

Danny grinned at her best friend, before holding her head as the world tilted slightly, her other hand tightening on the lawnmower's handle.

"Danny? Danny?" Tucker asked, a note of concern in her voice. Danny felt a scorching hand placed on her forearm and jerked away from it, surprised by the heat.

"Sorry," she apologized to a confused Tucker. "I just...my ice energy..."

"You did feel really cold," Tucker said, concern coloring her voice and posture.

Danny gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Let me finish your lawn and then I'll take a break, okay?"

Tucker gave Danny a _look_. "I think that'd a bad idea."

Danny waved it away. "I'll be _fine._" With that assertion she started up the lawnmower again and began to push it.

She got two steps before the world spun around her, her sight dimming as a numbness swept over her, her legs folding beneath her, unable to support her weight any longer.

_The grass is soft..._she thought fleetingly before oblivion overtook her.


	36. 70809: Argument

**Disclaimer: **Seriously?

**25 Argument**

"What's wrong with her!?"

"_Nothing_. Nothing that I can _tell_ anyway."

Danny woke up slowly to very annoyed voices, obviously having an argument over her well-being. She groaned slightly as she sat up.

"Danny!" she felt arms thrown around her shoulders and grunted from the sudden pressure. Tucker pulled back and put her forehead against Danny's. "What'd the bitch do to you?"

"Do?" Danny asked groggily.

"Yeah, you collapsed—remember?"

Danny blinked slowly. "Oh...Right."

"Again, I _didn't_ do anything," came the annoyed reply. Danny looked over Tucker's shoulder to see a perfectly unruffled-looking Vlad.

Danny finally registered that they were in Tucker's room, making Danny frown. "Why're you here, Vlad?"

"Your friend had the sense to call me rather than the paramedics when you collapsed. They don't know how to deal with ectoplasmic entities such as you and myself." Vlad shrugged. "I can find nothing wrong with you. I _did_ tell you to take it easy, and instead you go and exert yourself in high temperatures." There was a dry 'you should know better' in her voice that made Danny twitch.

"Yeah, well, why should I have listened to _you_ anyway?"

Vlad smirked faintly. "Why indeed? Let me take a look at you now that you're awake," Vlad said and walked over to Danny, slipping her fingers beneath Danny's chin, forcing her to look up.

Their eyes locked and Danny felt the oddest sensation wash over her, like cool water trickling down her spine. She was about to ask Vlad what had happened when the older half-ghost stepped back.

"Rest some more. Drink some fruit juice and eat something. You've more or less recovered."

"How long was I out for?"

"It's Wednesday morning."

Danny yelped. "I was out for _that _long?"

"You do nothing by halves," Vlad said dryly. "I expect you in the office once you are well enough." She gave Danny and Tucker a nod before vanishing, sending Tucker into a tirade about rich bitches who thought nothing about the health of their employees.

Danny found herself smiling wryly—she was getting to know Vlad enough that she knew the woman was concerned but couldn't be bothered to admit it.

_Ah, well._


	37. 70909: Wild Card

**Disclaimer: **Really?

**245 Wild card**

"Eights are wild," Sam explained, dealing the cards to Danny, Tucker, and Jazz as they sat around the table.

Danny had neglected to take off what she was coming to term her "work clothes", instead simply loosening the collar and unbuttoning a few buttons. It wasn't as if she had a bust to be modest about...

The card game had actually been Jazz's idea, a way to get Danny's mind off of her work woes. It was an _experience_, working with Vlad, and while the initial 'oh god I'm working for my arch-enemy' has worn off, the fact that Vlad could be quite demanding had not. So, with Danny sick of staring at a computer screen all day, Jazz suggested an old-fashioned card game.

Danny had jumped at the chance. _Anything_ to keep her mind of Vlad and work.

Although mostly Vlad.

Which was really quite disturbing.

She looked at her hand and sighed inwardly. Not the best, but she'd find a way to make it work—like she did with most things in her life.

And anyway, it would be nice to win at _something_ for a change.


	38. 71009: Hormones

**Disclaimer: **Nope.

**74 Hormones**

"I have the results from the tests," Vlad said once Danny had gotten comfortable.

"What?" Danny asked, blinking.

"The blood samples—I have the results."

"Which are?"

"It's as I thought might be the case—the shock short-circuited your hormone regulation. You have none of the normal levels of sex hormones for a girl your age circulating through your blood, which is why you have remained more or less neuter. You have two options—you can remain as you are, or I can start you on hormone therapy in hopes of jump-starting the natural process. I'm not even sure that'd be _possible_, though..."

Danny blinked rapidly, jaw going slack.

_Well. That explains a few things._

"So...I'm not really a girl?"

"Depends on how you wish to define 'girl'," Vlad replied smoothly, buffing her nails against her suit jacket. "Do you identify as having a female self-image?"

Danny shifted in her seat. "Well, yeah. I mean, I might not _like_ what people call 'feminine' stuff, but...I wouldn't want to be a guy either," she finished, wrinkling her nose slightly. "So, I guess I'm a girl."

"Do you want to look like one?"

Danny shifted in her seat. "I'd like to be _mature._ Being this way occasionally makes life..._difficult._"

Vlad blinked slowly before her eyebrows rose slightly. "I see. If you decided to undergone therapy, there's a chance that it might not work. If it _did, y_ou would also be dealing with all the things that girls your age have long been used to _now_."

"Yeah, but you'll help me through all that, right?" Danny asked hesitantly.

Vlad looked honestly surprised. "I wouldn't have thought you would ask."

Danny gave her a wobbly smile. "You're the one who would be paying for this—it would only make sense..."

Vlad gave Danny a half-smile and sighed. "Take the weekend to think on it. Tell me Monday whether or not you decide to go through with this. There are risks involved—as there is with anything that changes your body."

Danny ran a hand through her hair. "I...well, okay. I'll think about it. Talk it over with everyone."

"Everyone?"

"Well, yeah. Best for it to not be a surprise."

Danny was surprised and suspicious when Vlad smiled faintly. "I see. Well, then. Time to get back to work."

Danny scowled and grumbled something about frootloops that made Vlad quietly snicker.


	39. 71109: Family

**Disclaimer: **ha ha.

**57 Family**

Danny had been thinking over Vlad's revelation quite hard, annoyed at how much it cleared a lot of things up, only a few of them being physical. She figured that she had to broach the topic with her family _somehow_ but figuring out how to do it was quite different from telling Vlad that she would. Because, really, how can you phrase "a machine you built that turned me into a half-ghost also wrecked havoc on my body in _other_ interesting ways...such as keeping me from developing into an adult female."

_Yeah, that'd go over really well,_ Danny thought grumpily. _But...being blunt has always gotten me the farthest when dealing with my parents._

She sighed and phased through the house until she found her parents working in the basement. She landed behind them and became tangible. "Uh, mom? Dad?"

Her parents turned away from the project they were working on. Her father pushed up his goggles and gave his daughter a smile. "What's up?"

"Um...so, uh, I found out about why I still look like a 14-year-old."

"Oh?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah. Uh, when I got shocked with the ghost energy stuff, it, uh, short-circuted my hormones. As in, they haven't been turned on. So...uh, Vlad's offered me the chance of hormone therapy to attempt to jumpstart my dormant hormones—which she says still exist and are capable of being functional. I...uh, would _really_ like to actually _look_ my age, so...is it alright?"

Both her parents were looking at her now, even her mother appearing serious.

"Danny..." her father started before being cut off by his wife.

"Do _you_ want it?" Jack asked intently.

Danny blinked and shifted. "Well, yeah."

"Then go ahead!"

"_Jack_! We have to weigh all the risks and benefits and—"

"Look, our Danny wants to be a _woman_! I think that's a good thing."

"Well, yes, but hormone therapy can be quite dangerous."

"So is fighting ghosts and I do that all the time," Danny pointed out. "And anyway...my physiology is a little different..."

"Which is even more reason why you should be careful!" Maddie said, worry lacing his voice. "It's not that I don't want you to mature, it's just—"

"Your dad's just worried," Danny's mother replied and slapped her husband on the back, making the man stagger slightly. "But I think Danny should go with what she wants."

Danny smiled in relief. _That was easier than I thought it might be._ "Still gonna talk with Jazz and Sam and Tuck, but I wanted to run it by you guys first."

"Thank you, Danielle," Maddie said and hugged his daughter.

Danny hugged him back before phasing out of his grip and backing away slightly. "I'll be back after I tell everyone, okay?"

"Don't stay out too late," Jack reminded Danny. Danny nodded and gave her parents a broad smile before taking off.


	40. 71209: Normal

**Author**: Sorry about the lack of updates prior to today. Life got..._interesting_. But I've caught up! So, daily updates again.

**Disclaimer: **ha ha.

**324 Normal**

Danny sat in the Ghost Zone, semi-sulking. Was the desire to be normal in _some_ way truly that bad? Sam had seemed so..._disapproving._ As if only by being a freak was Danny worthwhile. Sam had hidden his reaction quickly, but Danny was perceptive enough to have noticed it.

So she found herself making excuses to go hide in the Ghost Zone in a place where no-one would think to look for her.

Well, almost anyone.

"What are you doing?"

Danny looked up and over to Plasmius, who was floating a few feet away. "Your parents are worrying about you, so they called _me._"

Danny remained silent and merely looked away. "Go away, Vlad."

There was a sigh and a shuffle of fabric before Danny found her chin yanked up to meet Vlad's crimson gaze.

"Tell me what's wrong."

"I don't have to and you can't make me."

"Stop sounding like a five-year-old," Vlad reprimanded. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"Danny. Don't lie to me."

Danny looked away and was ashamed to have to blink back tears. "It's just...everyone but Jazz and Sam seem on board with me doing the hormone shit. Jazz sighted all kinds of medical and psychological reasons why it's a Bad Plan, but Sam..."

"Sam?"

"I don't know," Danny finally whispered. "It's like...if I'm _not_ not normal then I'm not....worthwhile, I guess."

The fingers released their grip and instead gently stroked Danny's cheek. "Look, little badger. Be who _you_ want to be—no matter what that ignorant goth-wannabe may say."

"Vlad! He's my _boyfriend._"

"Is he, really?" Vlad asked, her hand lightly brushing some of the white locks out of Danny's face.

"Well, yeah..." Danny answered before swatting away Vlad's hand. "Stop it. That's distracting."

Vlad quirked an eyebrow. "Is that so? Well, get your mopy-self back to your home and stop your parents nattering at me. I'm a busy woman. Show me that you can take care of yourself. I won't be around forever to hold you hand, you know."

"_WHAT_?!" Danny exclaimed in outrage, but Vlad merely gave her a coy wave goodbye before vanishing.

Danny fumed silently before turning and starting her trip back to her house. When she had almost arrived, a thought hit her that gave her pause.

_How did Vlad find me anyway...?_


	41. 71309: Change

**Disclaimer**: No.

**170 Change**

"I'm just making sure one last time—you _do_ know that this will change everything."

"Yes!" Danny said, exasperated. "I know."

Vlad sighed. "Very well. You'll start tomorrow. This won't be an instantaneous thing—I think. With your unique physiology, I'm not entirely sure what the effects will be."

"I know it's dangerous" Danny said softly. "But...I want to be an adult. I'm sick of being a kid."

"Only someone who didn't know you would say you're a kid."

Danny looked at Vlad quickly, eyes narrowing, but the billionaire seemed to have become absorbed in organizing papers. "There are just a few forms you need to fill out for me. Then...well, it begins."

Danny nodded and walked over to Vlad, who handed her a clipboard with a number of papers on it. "Do it on your break. Work waits for no woman."

Danny scowled. "Oh, come _on_."

Vlad quirked Danny a smug smirk. "Just know that I'm going to work you harder and your pay will take a cut—this won't be a cheap procedure, afterall."

Danny grumbled darkly and stalked over to the station Vlad had set up before her, slamming the clipboard down on the desk beside her.

_God, there are times I _hate_ the frootloop..._


	42. 71409: Coffee

**Author:** Um...oops?

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**91 Coffee  
**

Danny had overheard the kind of coffee Vlad tended to drink—and, from what she had learned, it was ridiculously strong when brewed in the right way. 'Rocket fuel' she had heard it described as. So, as she was heavily indebted to the frootloop, she thought that doing a few little things to show her gratitude would be a good path to take.

Coffee was one thing—it wasn't costly, it was mundane, but it was _something._

Well, she had _thought_ it wouldn't be costly.

_Only Vlad would pick out expensive gourmet coffee. Why can't she like Dunkin Donuts or something?_ Danny inwardly grumbled as she viewed the coffee online. _Still.._

She idly turned over her debit card in her fingers, watching as the light played on the holographic sticker as she thought. _I'll get it. _

With a resigned sigh, she clicked on the image of the coffee and purchased a bag.


	43. 71509: Sigh

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**296 Sigh  
**

Danny heaved a sigh, making her boyfriend pull her closer.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

"Oh, n-nothing," Danny replied, tilting her head back to look at her boyfriend's face. "Vlad's just being a slavedriver."

"You know, you talk about her a lot."

"I do?" Danny replied, perplexed. "Well, I guess since I _do_ spend most of my time around her..."

"You don't seem to hate her anymore."

"Oh, no, I do—it's just for different reasons now."

"Oh?"

Danny sighed. "She's overbearing, works early _and_ late _and_ expects me to keep her hours..." Danny continued to rant for a few minutes before she became aware of Sam chuckling. "What's so funny?" she half-demanded.

"You're adorable when you're angry," Sam told her and gently kissed her head.

Danny flushed and smiled faintly. It was a kind of back-handed compliment, but it was nice nonetheless.

"Why don't I take your mind off of Vlad?" Sam purred in Danny's ear, lightly kissing the curve of her ear.

Danny shivered and tilted her head back so it rested on Sam's shoulder, giving him access to her neck. She _knew_ what Sam was planning on distracting her with, and welcomed the sensations as his lips pressed gently against her pulse.


	44. 71609: Moonlight

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**33 Moonlight**

Danny sat on the rooftop of the Op Center, bathed in the moonlight, her own form glowing the faint silver of the celestial body hanging above her.

She sighed and ran a hand through her short hair. Her hands traced her body and smiled bitterly.

_Soon enough, this will begin to change. I hope. Vlad said that it might not even work, given how my body is, but I'd like to think that one day I'll be sexually mature. _

It was just..._difficult_...wanting to have a more physical relationship with Sam, but knowing that the lack of maturity of her body would make sex...uncomfortable. And she _knew_ Sam wanted to have sex with her.

Hell, _Danny_ was curious about what sex was like—what teenager _wouldn't_ be curious? But her...exploration was hampered by her lack of maturity.

_I hope it works,_ she thought, eyes focusing on the moon hanging far above her. _I want to be a _woman_, not just a girl._


	45. 71709: Fun

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**116 Fun**

Danny hated to admit it, but her and Vlad's verbal sparring matches were becoming far, far too much fun. They would argue over minutia, debate current events, conflict over morals and ethics, all while doing it in a purely conversational tone, to the point that even the secretary was unsure if they were engaging in one of their arguments or simply talking to pass the time.

Danny was pretty sure Vlad found the debates just as entertaining—why else would she continue to respond?


	46. 71809: Brilliant

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**293 Brilliant**

"Brilliant, Sherlock. Abso-fucking-lutely brilliant," Danny muttered as she pulled some gook out of her hair.

She hated when Skulker came up with new weaponry—especially weaponry she got from _Vlad_. It drove her insane knowing that the woman was _still_ partially funding someone who was trying to make her a pet or something!

Danny phased herself intangible and smiled in faint satisfaction when all the goo that had accumulated on her body pooled around her seated form.

_I really need to learn to plan better, _she thought almost sheepishly as she stood, running a hand through her hair to get whatever might remain out. _I mean, the hit-first-ask-questions-later worked for a while, but now that everyone's used to me and my fighting style, they're getting _sneaky_. I need to learn to counter that sneaky or else I might just end up a pelt in front of Skulker's fireplace._

Danny sighed heavily and shook her head. _Why does my life have to be so damn complicated?_


	47. 71909: Marshmallow

**Author**: ah ha ha...er...sorry about the mass update. More is going to show up tomorrow since...well...I have significant backlog. -_-b my apologies for spamming your mailboxes.

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**360 marshmallow**

"S'mores?" Tucker asked as Danny chucked the bag of marshmallows into the shopping cart.

"Well, yeah," Danny said. "It's _finally_ starting to feel like summer, so, we'll build a campfire and make s'mores."

"Or you could just microwave them."

"I've been trying _really_ hard to not have my appliances contaminated by ecto-stuff, but I'm not sure how successful I've been—afterall, I can't watch my parents _constantly._ Well, I _could_, but I don't wanna."

Tucker winced. "Ah, _god_. Ecto-S'mores. Worst idea _ever_."

Danny laughed. "_That's_ putting it lightly," she drawled as she chucked a box of graham crackers into the cart as well. "So, old-fashioned fire. I think I can find space in my backyard..."

"If not, we can always ask Sam."

"Yeah..." Danny trailed off with a smile. "We could always ask Sam."

"So, let's hurry up! I want some of those S'mores!"

Danny laughed when Tucker wrenched the cart out of her hands and took off down the aisle.


	48. 72009: Maze

**Disclaimer**: No.

**277 Maze**

Danny swallowed hard, looking at the maze around her. The only way she knew she was still in the ghost zone was the eerie purple of the walls and the faint green light of the sky above and below her. No matter how far up or down she flew, the walls simply seemed to continue farther and farther.

_How am I going to get out of _this_ mess?_ She thought desperately.

With some trepidation she started forward, glancing around her nervously. It was eerily quiet, and with how she wasn't breathing the silence was absolute. There didn't seem to be any ghosts with her in the maze, which made Danny even more nervous. What was the point to trapping her, then?  
Danny turned a corner and yelped as she came face-to-face with a familiar visage.

"Sam? What are you doing here?" she asked, relief coloring her voice.

Her boyfriend turned and looked at her, face expressionless. "Do you love me, Danny?"

"Of course!" Danny replied immediately, although she was no longer as sure as she felt she should be.

Sam slowly shook his head. "No, you don't. You don't _tell_ me things, and all you ever talk about are ghosts and Vlad. You try to engage me, to please me, but it's empty."

"No it isn't! You're more important to me than anyone else."

"Perhaps in the past...but not anymore."

Sam faded into nothingness, sending a spike of panic through Danny. "Sam? Sam! Where are you?" she called, moving forward again.

"Who _cares_ about him?" drawled a voice from beside her. Danny looked over sharply to see a form that sent her stomach to her heels.

Phantom gave her a feral grin. "Hello, little girl."

"You're not real," Danny said flatly. "I've already dealt with you."

"Dealt with me, perhaps, but haven't _adapted_ to me," she purred, a red-colored fingernail tracing a the shape of Danny's cheek. "You'll see, Danny—one day, I _will_ win and there will be nothing you can do to stop me from tearing your life, your relationships, to shreds."

Danny snarled. "I won't let you!"

"Oh, temper, _temper_, Danny. Has anyone else noticed what color your eyes glow when you're angry now?"

Danny balked and looked away. "I don't really get angry anymore."

"Because it would give you away, wouldn't it?" Phantom purred and slipped her fingers under Danny's chin, forcing her younger self to look up. "Would give away that in order to prevent me from ever returning and wrecking my delicious destruction over the world, you accepted me into yourself."

"I don't regret it," Danny said stubbornly.

"Not yet," Phantom chided before fading into the darkness, her cheshire grin the last thing to go.

Danny shook her head emphatically to clear it and took a number of deep, calming breaths.

_Can't let that get at you,_ she told herself before continuing.

"Ah, _there_ you are" a familiar voice murmured.

Danny turned to find Vlad sitting quite comfortably on air.

"How did...?"

"Oh, you must be aware that this is no _real_ maze by now, my dear," Vlad told Danny, buffing her nails casually. "It's all in your head. The ghost that did this to you was quite ingenious—seems like it learned a thing or two from Nocturne. Now, come. You've spend enough time wandering—Amity needs you."

"What, you're not doing anything?"

"My dear child, I _can't._ I'm trapped here as surely as you are. I'm getting _you_ out, though, since you're the one who needs the experience, not I."

Vlad extended her hand to Danny, who regarded it carefully. "You're not lying."  
Vlad rolled her eyes and grabbed Danny's wrist.

Danny gasped and looked around, slightly woozy. She sat up slowly and pushed herself to her feet.

_Amity._

Danny scowled and took off—time to find that ghost, if Vlad was indeed telling the truth, and kick its sorry ass.


	49. 72109: Cloud

**Disclaimer**: No.

**7 Cloud**

It was Danny's midday break, and she was sitting out on the steps of the mayoral office, simply watching the clouds go by. Her mind continued to drift to what she had seen in the maze, ruining the peaceful mood she was trying her hardest to cultivate. It was incredibly hard to concentrate when her attention kept on wandering.

What Sam had said resonated deep within her and it made her squirm. She _loved_ him—right? If not him, then who? He had been one of the few constants in her life, one of the few things that she could depend upon, even if he occasionally did drive her crazy (but he was a _boy_, so that was excusable). The clouds formed and faded as Danny watched, her mind wandering in a thousand different directions.


	50. 72209: Flowers

**Disclaimer**: No.

**27 Flowers**

Danny wouldn't have pinned Vlad as one for flowers, and it took her by surprise to discover that she _was_. The constantly rotating flower arrangement in her office should have been indication enough, but Danny had thought it was purely for show.

"I _like_ flowers," Vlad had drawled, a finger lightly stroking the petal of a lily. "More than people," she added absently.

"They're certainly _prettier_ than most people," Danny half-agreed.

Vlad had given her a smirk, "_Most_ people."

"Don't tell me you're _that_ vain, Vlad."

Vlad laughed. "I make no claim to be more beautiful than a flower, but I have been told I have a rather..._exotic_...allure to me," she purred, finger tracing a stem of an iris.

Danny snorted and rolled her eyes, which made Vlad chuckle.

"I am sure, my dear girl, that you will have your own allure once you mature," Vlad told her before settling herself behind her desk, Danny staring at her blankly.

_Vlad's compliments are so weird._

Although the fact that she could tell they _were_ compliments said something...


	51. 72309: Feel

**Disclaimer**: No.

**99 Feel**

"How do you feel?"

"Huh?"

"The therapy—how are you feeling?"

"Fine," Danny answered after a moment. "Not all that different."

Vlad sighed softly, as if disappointed. "I see. You will be getting bi-weekly examinations, though, to make sure nothing is going horribly wrong—if you feel ill or strange at all, tell me _immediately._ I don't need some unforeseen effect downing you."

For a reason Danny couldn't entirely pinpoint, the knowledge that Vlad actually _cared_ about what happened to her sent a lazy spiral of warmth through her.

"Will do," she told her boss almost happily before going back to work, completely missing the mystified look on Vlad's face.


	52. 72409: Key

**Disclaimer**: No.

**75 Key**

"I am going to be away on business for a few days—you, however, are not allowed to slack," she said and handed Danny a number of keys, making Danny's face twist into a scowl. "I expect you to keep the office running smoothly and direct any pressing inquiries to my Blackberry. You do have all my contact information, correct?"

"E-mail, cell, etc., etc.," Danny listed off, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. "I got everything, Vladdy," she told her boss with a degree of flippancy.

"Mm," Vlad responded, an eyebrow raising slightly. "We shall see. Try not to get in too much trouble without me around."

Danny bristled. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Vlad!"

"You seem to do a consistently poor job of it," Vlad drawled.

Danny growled, eyes narrowing dangerously.

Vlad merely smirked. "I'll see you later, little badger," Vlad purred and patted Danny's shoulder before walking out of the office, only the scent of her perfume lingering in her wake.

Danny looked at the keys and scowled.

_And you're going to do it, too, aren't you?_ Danny asked herself. She scowled faintly before slipping the keys into her bag before leaving the office as well, locking the doors behind her.


	53. 72509: Sunshine

**Disclaimer**: No.

**1 Sunshine**

Danny lounged on top of the Op Center and soaked in the sunshine, using it to help relax her tense muscles. There was something to be said about sunning oneself.

The sunshine was a balm to her worries and tense muscles, sapping them slowly out of her. The fact that it was a Saturday may also have helped.

Danny let out a low, long sigh, eyes closed against the glare of the sun. _I can't believe how _well_ my life is going. I mean, ghost attacks are at an all-time low, I'm getting paid good money for a boring, pointless, easy job, I have good friends and a loving boyfriend. Things are actually looking good._

She smiled into the sunshine, gradually unwinding.


	54. 72609: Delicate

**Author**: Again, sorry for spamming your mailboxes.

**Disclaimer**: No.

**198 Delicate**

Her grip on herself was so delicate, the control she had on herself was tenuous at best. But it was _necessary_ if she were to live with any kind of normalcy at all. She didn't _dare_ let anyone know just how fragile her hold on reality was.

_There are times I wonder about _that_ choice,_ Danny sighed inwardly as she guided one of her characters through the online world of DOOM.

The feelings would spring on her at the most random, often inconvenient moments, making her waver and trip over her self. The malign amusement that trickled through her at other's misfortune was stronger than the normal schadenfreude that most experienced occasionally, a subtle violence and competativeness that surfaced during gym class or other competitions, no matter how mundane they may be, a darkness to her soul and heart that she dared not expose her family and friends to.

_Vlad would understand the darkness,_ a small part of her whispered.

Danny shook her head violently and idly killed a few monsters. _I don't care—I'm not going to go to her for help. Can you imagine how much she'd _gloat?

Danny growled and leaned back in her seat. She _knew_ she needed someone else to accept and understand that darkness, because if she didn't find someone...

Her delicate hold might just break.


	55. 72709: Adrenaline

**Disclaimer**: ha ha no.

**286 Adrenaline**

Adrenaline was flooding through her system as she dodged the attacks, and she fought back the feral grin that threatened to cross her face.

Ever since _that_ time it had been harder to control the intensity of her pleasure in fighting other ghosts—even if it resulted in her being battered to a pulp, as long as she left the other ghost hurting as much as she, the better.

As she slammed into a wall she couldn't help but voice a small laugh, shaking her head to clear it of the stars. The feeling was addictive, and she found she enjoyed her ghost battles these days, rather than feeling as if they were her civic duty—although that helped justify her actions for her.

She caught another attack in her palm and sent an energy beam at her attacker with another, losing herself in the moment.


	56. 72809: Jewelry

**Disclaimer**: nope.

**225 Jewelry**

Danny looked at the box in her hands and turned it over. _Paris? This is from _Paris? _Who the hell do I know in Paris? _Curious, Danny opened the package, only to discover a box within the box. She scowled faintly before opening _that_ box. Her jaw dropped as she gently fingered the jewelry that laid in the plain-looking box.

_Hope you haven't gotten in too much trouble, little badger,_ was what the small accompanying note said.

Danny swallowed as the delicate gold chain flowed like liquid sunshine over her fingers, the amber and emerald pendant swinging on the end of the chain glittering in the light of her home. Accompanying it was an ornate ring wrought in delicate shapes and studded with emerald and diamond.

_It must've cost a small fortune,_ she thought absently, and found herself fiddling with the clasp of the necklace, putting the necklace on before slipping on the ring, admiring it as it caught the light.

"Danny? What's that?"

Danny snapped out of admiring the ring and her hand fell quickly to her side, a blush inexplicably coloring her cheeks. "N-nothing," she said to her boyfriend, slipping the ring inside her pant pocket and pushing the necklace down the front of her shirt before turning and giving Sam a bright smile. She walked over to him and slipped her arm around his and she led him away from the discarded packaging from the gift from Vlad.

She didn't know why, but she thought that explaining that her pain-in-the-ass-boss/arch-enemy was sending her gifts of very expensive jewelry _probably_ wasn't the best plan, so she forcefully veered the conversation down a different venue, doing her best to make her boyfriend dismiss whatever he had seen.


	57. 72909: Night

**Disclaimer**: nope.

**125 Night**

Danny felt trapped by the night. It was suffocating, it wrapped around her with inky tentacles of darkness and shadows. It crept into her soul and brought out the worst in her, made her fight her demons with extra vigour. Without the safety of daylight, Danny was forced to submit—at least in part—to that part of her she hated, yet had to accept to survive. The night was alive with pale fire that burned through her being, with blood red eyes that seared her soul and whispered that she wasn't who she thought she was.

It was at night that she desperately desired someone to be able to hold her close in their arms, tell her that everything would be alright, that she was a worthwhile human being, that her past didn't define her and that her fight was not futile. She longed to feel safe and protected and warm, able to relax—instead she was caged by the four walls of her room, the blankets binding her to her bed, clamping down and holding her prisoner in her own body.

Sam was great, as boyfriends went, but he lacked the _solidity_ and _strength_ that Danny craved with her entire being, and that, perhaps, was why their relationship was faltering.

Danny shuddered as the darkness—from within, from without—sought to consume her.


	58. 73009: Breathing

**Disclaimer**: nope.

**123 Breathing**

Danny's breathing was ragged as she stared up at the ceiling, doing her best to calm her frantically beating heart.

_Just a dream, Danny. Just a _dream.

The vestiges of the nightmare clung to her mind like cobwebs and she shivered in her bed, pulling the covers more firmly around her. _Just a dream, Danny._

She knew she would get no more sleep, though, and contented herself to breathing in time with the ticking of the clock, hoping to at least induce a meditative state.


	59. 73109: Relief

**Disclaimer**: nope.

**247 Relief**

In an odd way, it was almost a _relief_ to know that Vlad would be returning on Monday—it had been weird and strangely lonely without her in the office. Sure, she had played music to help her concentrate, but she somehow _missed_ their easy banter.

Not that she would tell her—or anyone else—that. Ever. To think that she was missing the company of her arch-enemy!

_Is she really, anymore?_ A small part of her asked.

Danny sat back in her chair and tapped at the stack of papers sitting next to her. _No, not really. I mean, we haven't fought since I started working for her, she's been _nice_, she hasn't attacked mom recently...I think she's also keeping some of the ghosts in line without my intervention. Huh. I guess it makes sense that I'm starting to like the bitch._

Danny sighed a chuckle and went back to working.


	60. 80109: Police

**Author**: Just had to sneak in my newest obsession, didn't I...?

**Disclaimer**: nope.

**206 Police**

"I can't _believe_ I hadn't made you watch _Transformers_ before today!" Tucker exclaimed, obviously shocked and affronted.

Danny shrugged. "It wasn't _that_ good—but let me tell you, I'm going to be _terrified_ of police cars from now on."

At that, Tucker laughed. "Aw, _c'mon_. Megatron was _so_ much scarier than Barricade."

"Yeah, well, Megatron's a gigantic alien-looking alien. Barricade was a _police car._ You know, people you're supposed to trust and instead its 'oh god it's eating my face!'."

Tucker laughed even harder at that.

"I already have problems with the law, now I'm going to be even _more_ paranoid," Danny grumbled as Tucker tried to control her breathing.

"God, Danny, you're a trip," Tucker half-gasped and clasped her friend on the shoulder.

Danny simply grinned.


	61. 80209: Computer

**Author:** Almost caught up...

**Disclaimer**: nope.

**41 Computer**

Danny cursed and smacked her monitor, growling uncomplimentary things as Technus's face popped up on the screen.

"Get out, Technus!" she snarled.

The techno-ghost merely cackled.

Danny scowled at the computer and leaned back in her chair. "Look, Tech, we _both_ know I can grind you into the dirt. What do you want?"

"Want? To control everything electronic in the world!" she proclaimed with a 'well _duh_' tone.

Danny rolled her eyes. "Have fun finding your way out of my computer, then, considering I've just imbued it with ghost energy, effectively caging you," she told her smugly.

In reality, she had done no such thing, but Technus bought it and came surging out of her computer screen, allowing Danny to catch her easily.

"Tsk, tsk, Technus," she chided gently as she tossed the Thermos lightly up and down. "You should know better by now."


	62. 80309: Paint

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**78 Paint**

"I'm so glad the walls are solid steel—can you imagine how many times we'd have to repaint the walls with all the stuff that gets flung around here?" Danny asked as she helped clean up the latest experimental fiasco in the Fenton Lab.

Tucker snickered as she wiped goo off of her beret. "A lot. Let's leave it at that."

Sam snorted and shook his head as he used a clean towel to get ectoplasm out of his hair and clothes. "True. How'd this happen again?"

The three teens looked at each other and thought.

"Truthfully? I think a stray ecto-beam hit something."

"And this won't do anything to us?"

"Not that I know of, no," Danny replied with a shrug, but a gnawing worry formed in her gut. "But...if something starts to feel funny...tell me ASAP. Okay?"

"Sure, sure," Tucker replied with a shrug. "We'll let you know. _Right_, Sam?"

The young man nodded. "Definitely."

Danny's shoulders relaxed and she smiled faintly. "Alright. Now, let's finish this."


	63. 80409: Gasping

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**189 Gasping**

Danny found herself gasping for air as she rubbed her throat, knowing with unhappy certainty that she would have bruises around her neck.

_Damnit. Have to wear a collared shirt tomorrow. Or maybe a choker-necklace. Something to hide the fact that someone tried to suffocate me,_ Danny thought with a wince. _Or maybe everything'll be healed by tomorrow?_

Danny stood shakily, body still reeling from oxygen deprivation. She was surprised when a ghost didn't immediately attack her, and looked around in confusion—it should be going after her, as she was obviously depleted of energy. Instead, everything was silent.

"I took care of it," a voice purred from beside her and Danny whirled. Her eyes fell on nothing, but Danny _knew_ something—or someone—was there.

"Thanks?" she offered hesitantly.

"My _pleasure_," came the reply before Danny felt that whatever had been beside her was gone.

_Vlad?_ She wondered uneasily. _But if it _was_ her, why would she go out of her way to help me? That makes no sense._

She began to wander slowly home, her hand raising occasionally to rub at her sore neck.


	64. 80509: Original

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**339 Original**

"It's an original, commissioned especially for you" Vlad purred as she handed over a package to Danny, who took it with some trepidation. "An early birthday present, if you will."

Danny looked at the package, obviously not trusting Vlad's intentions, which made the woman smirk. She was obviously about to say something when she caught sight of Danny's hand. The smirk turned into a smile. "You liked the jewelry?" she asked softly.

Danny looked at the ring and flushed slightly. "Of course! It's...breathtaking. It must've cost too much, Vlad, really—"

Vlad shook her head slowly and reached out, drawing the gold chain of the necklace out from beneath Danny's collar, causing the teen's breath to hitch for reasons she couldn't entirely explain.

"It suits you, as I thought it would," Vlad murmured, letting the pendant drop to rest on Danny's chest. "Do you have your ears pierced?"

"N-no," Danny stammered in reply as Vlad's fingers ghosted over her ears. She had _no_ idea why she was letting Vlad touch her so casually, let alone in places she knew were erogenous zones for her.

"Mm, pity," Vlad said and took a step back.

Danny felt suddenly cold from the lack of Vlad's presence, surprising her. She'd never _really_ been aware of her abnormal body temperature before.

She shook herself out of her funk and looked at the package in her hand. "I'll open it later," she told the billionaire, who merely nodded.

"Very well. Now, back to work, hm?"


	65. 80609: Walk

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**51 Walk**

Danny walked slowly towards the Mayoral office, slightly dazed.

_I never expected Vlad to get me something like _that_, _she thought with a small degree of awe. _How the hell am I going to thank her? I mean, my budget is tiny compared to hers, although I have found out that I'm getting paid significantly better than any of my peers. How did she get my measurements, though?_ She wondered.

Vlad's present had been an outfit that was custom-tailored to her, and, even better, was actually something _she'd wear._ A pair of jeans that she could tell were _made_ for her, a button-down top, a light undershirt to be paired with the top. It was...Danny was flattered beyond anything she had experienced before. Afterall, it _was_ Vlad she was talking about and she was probably just using these to get her on her side...but, still. From what Danny could tell, Vlad had gone awfully far out of her way to get her things, and Vlad seemed to get genuine pleasure out of astonishing Danny in _good_ ways.

_She _likes_ spoiling me,_ she thought, and the shock stopped her progress. _She _likes_ giving me things just for the sake of _giving me things. _Whoa, she's more of a frootloop than I imagined._

There was a possible alternative explanation to Vlad's behavior, but Danny ruthlessly squished that speculation and continued on her way.


	66. 80709: Birthday

**Author**: This one ran away from me a little...and pardon my laziness--I gave Danny _my_ birthday because it was convenient.

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**356 birthday**

"I wouldn't want to detain you on your birthday, so I'm going to allow you to take off early," Vlad told her when Danny entered the office, making the girl freeze.

"Really?" she asked, not quite able to believe that Vlad was being _that_ nice.

Vlad gave her a small smile, something strange glittering in her eyes. "It's not _every_ day that you turn 18. It's a milestone, especially in _your_ life."

Danny grimaced. "Tell me about it," she murmured as she walked to her desk, putting her bag down.

"I see you like my clothes," Vlad said, warmth in her voice that made Danny inexplicably blush.

"I figured you wouldn't mind me coming in with jeans today," she muttered, running a hand through her hair in...nervousness?! "Thanks a lot for them."

"My pleasure, my dear," Vlad told her.

Comfortable silence fell between them as Danny attended to the tasks that Vlad had left on her desk, noticing that it was substantially less than what she would normally get.

So little, in fact, that she was done by lunch.

Danny leaned back in her chair and cracked her back and rolled her wrists, working the tension out of them.

"You're done?"

"Yeah," Danny told her boss with a smile. "Does this mean I get to go home?"

"If you allow me to treat you to a birthday lunch."

Danny blinked, tamping down a new wave of surprise before nodding. "Who am I to refuse free food?"

Vlad laughed, but it wasn't the cold, cruel, mocking one she was used to—it was warm, soft, and affectionate. "Spoken like a true teenager. Come. You can choose anywhere as long as it _isn't_ the Nasty Burger," she said as she stood.

Danny snickered and collected her things, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "Well, there's this one Italian restaurant..."

"Then we shall go there," Vlad declared as she picked up a small pocketbook of her own and secured it over one shoulder.

"And I can get anything I want?"

"Save for alcohol."

Danny sighed. "Ah, well. No-one would serve it to me anyway, since I look so damn _young."_

Vlad put a comforting hand on Danny's shoulder and guided her towards the door. "If it's any consolation, your attitude occasionally belies your age."

Danny's eyes narrowed slightly as Vlad smirked. The billionaire-mayor told her secretary that she was going out for lunch and would be back whenever she would be back. Before they reached the doors, Danny lightly touched Vlad and imparted some of her ice energy onto the woman's clothes, surprising her.

The action made sense when they exited into the hot early August sun.

Vlad gave Danny a small, thankful smile. "That was kind of you, Danny."

Danny shrugged. "Wouldn't want to ruin your makeup with sweat."

Vlad chuckled softly at that. "So, what are you doing with your family and friends? You're lucky it's on a Friday..."

Danny nodded, "Yeah, I know. Well..."

They walked leisurely down the street, sticking to the shadows as much as possible until they rounded on the restaurant Danny had spoken of.

Vlad's eyebrows rose slightly. "Perhaps you have better taste than I thought."

"Hey!"  
The two entered and were seated almost immediately. Each picked up a menu and there was a brief silence as they considered their options.

"What do you suggest, Danielle? You've been here before..."

Danny blushed faintly. "Well..."

They debated the merits of a few dishes before deciding on theirs and ordering, leaving them together in silence once more.

"Hey, Vlad."

"Yes?"

"When is _your_ birthday?"

Vlad smirked. "October 31st."

Danny blinked and her jaw dropped. "Halloween? _Seriously?_"

"Yes, seriously."

Danny sat back in her chair and shook her head in bemusement.

Their dishes came quickly, and as they ate they discussed little, mundane things, but for the most part, words were not needed, and that _terrified_ Danny.

_How have I become so _comfortable_ with her? She's tried to kill my mom a thousand times...! But not recently...and she's helped me a number of times...huh._

Lunch was over too soon for Danny's liking and they began to head towards Danny's house.

"You're walking me back?" Danny asked, amused.

Vlad shrugged. "Why not?"

Danny smiled faintly and reached into her bag to find the house keys.

Only to discover them, and her wallet, gone.

_Ohshitohshit_.

"Is something wrong?"

"Can we go back to your office? I think I might have left my wallet there."

Vlad nodded, looked around covertly, and teleported them back to just beside City Hall. Danny briefly clung to the older woman, slightly disoriented. Once she got her bearings again, she pushed gently away and walked around the building, Vlad close behind, she taking the steps a few at a time, going ahead to look for her wallet.

She entered Vlad's office and nearly melted with relief when she saw the keys/wallet on the desk she used. She walked over and put them in her bag, running a hand through her hair.

_Ha. Didn't need that._

She heard the door close as Vlad entered the room, and turned to face her.

"I have one last birthday present for you," Vlad told her softly, the woman's tone of voice sending shivers up Danny's spine—in a _good_ way, which concerned the girl.

"I can't _imagine_ getting anything else," Danny said lightly, inexplicably glued to her spot as Vlad approached.

"It's nothing much," Vlad murmured, a hands-breadth away from Danny, the younger half-ghost's pulse skyrocketing.

_I should be getting out of here!_ She thought frantically, but there was something in Vlad's gaze that took her breath away.

"Vlad," she started when she found her lips otherwise occupied.

The kiss was sweet, chaste, tender, and sensual, and it made Danny's body tingle. She could feel Vlad's hands on her shoulders, and was aware—faintly—of her own palms resting lightly on Vlad's stomach. The simple contact sent waves of warmth through her, making her want to melt into Vlad's arms.

_It used to feel like this with Sam—not anymore, though,_ she thought absently.

Vlad pulled away and gave Danny the most seductive smirk the girl had ever seen. "Happy Birthday, Danielle."

Danny struggled to find her voice as Vlad backed away, walking over to her desk.

Danny swallowed a number of times, absolutely dumbfounded.

_DID VLAD JUST _KISS_ ME?!_ She thought frantically once she was coherent again.

"Why?" she finally asked, and Vlad looked up from her paperwork.

"You're a smart girl—you'll figure it out," Vlad told her with a small smirk.

"But I thought you liked my dad!"

Vlad sighed. "After 22 years of yearning for your father and getting nowhere, one eventually takes the hint."

Danny stared at Vlad for a long moment before shaking her head. "You are _such_ a frootloop."  
Vlad chuckled softly and made a shooing motion with her hands. "Get gone, little badger. You don't want to be late for your surprise birthday party, do you?"

"Wait, what?"

"Oops," Vlad said, completely unapologetic. "In any event, you should be going. I'm sure you will want to spend some time with your _boyfriend_."

Danny frowned. _There's something in the way she said that..._

"Right," she eventual stated. "I guess I'll see you Monday...?"

"Of course," Vlad agreed prior to turning her attention back to her paperwork.

Danny sighed softly and walked out, making sure she had _everything_. She meandered home in a half-daze, playing the events of the office over in her mind once more, baffled.

_Why did Vlad kiss me? No, better question, why did I _let_ Vlad kiss me? She's _Vlad_, for fuck's sake! And then why did I _like_ it? I mean, I guess it makes sense that Vlad'd be a good kisser, considering her age...which is a whole other level of 'oh god this is so wrong'. _Danny sighed again and ran a hand through her hair. _Happy birthday indeed._

Danny pushed the encounter out of her mind as she approached her house, intending to enjoy her birthday.

–


	67. 80809: Heart

**Author**: Stupid ff dot net acting up again...

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**77 Heart**

Danny sat at her computer, staring blankly at the screen, heart in turmoil. Her fingers tapped lightly on the keyboard, not pressing down enough to register a keystroke, but just something to _do_ with her hands.

_Shit, Danny, what the _hell_ have you gotten yourself into now?_

Her birthday 'surprise' party had gone off well, her family (extended and nuclear) and close friends the participants. It had been nice to see her family on her mother's side, since she rarely ever got to see them, since one lived in Japan for the most part, and the others in California and Texas—nowhere near where _she_ lived. Her uncle on her dad's side had also made an appearance. Her maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother had both been in attendance as well, having come from Pennsylvania and Florida.

"It's not _every_ day a granddaughter turns 18," said her grandmother after giving her a gentle, affectionate pat on the thigh from her seat in a wheelchair.

"Thank you for coming all the way," Danny said and gave her a hug. It made her heart light to see _everyone—_even a few _cousins_—in attendance. It made her feel _loved_, and while she refused to share the 'by the way I'm half-ghost' with them (that'd be a bit much), it was _nice_ to see family.

Everyone ate too much and talked too much, and all too soon it was time to set everyone up for the night. Her aunts and uncles had found places to stay in a nearby hotel, but it was up to Danny's nuclear family to make her grandparents comfortable. It wasn't _too_ difficult—she and Jazz merely gave up their beds. Danny made _sure_ to put ghost shields around the bedrooms once the old people were settled in. No ned to have them woken up by some ghost mistaking them for her.

Eventually it was just she and her boyfriend, Tucker having gone home and Jazz making excuses to be elsewhere. Danny had smiled shyly at Sam, who had taken her hands in his and given her a long, steamy look. Nothing really needed to be said when Sam's eyes expressed his emotions so _clearly._ Danny felt a twinge in her heart when she realized she was comparing his gaze to Vlad's earlier in the day and a blush rose to her cheeks that made Sam smile, incorrectly interpreting the reason for it.

"I still haven't given you your present," he told her softly in a slightly husky voice that used to send chills up her spine.

Not anymore.

"Oh?" she asked coyly, making Sam's smile widen.

"Mm-hm," he said before leaning in and giving her a passionate kiss, Danny responding with equal heat.

But, it felt...strangely _hollow._ Not that she would ever _say_ that—and she _liked_ kissing anyway, so who was she to complain?

They eventually broke apart, Danny flushed and breathing hard.

_Vlad's better, and she didn't even go half as far as you let Sam,_ said a soft, insidious voice in her mind.

"Thank you," she told Sam. "I think that's the best birthday present I've gotten."

Sam grinned cockily. "Of _course_ it is."

Danny snickered and Sam gave her one last lingering kiss before releasing her hands and mouth. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Danny nodded. "Definitely."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Danny let Sam out and gave him a bright smile, but the moment he left and she had closed the door, she deflated slightly, her shoulders slumping.

_How'd I get to be such a good liar? I've been hanging around Vlad too long,_ she thought with a grimace. She smoothed out her features and locked the door, heart heavy in her chest as she picked up the pajamas she had picked out from her drawers before settling in her grandmother.

Danny sighed and shook her head, drawing herself out of her memories. _Now the _bitch_ is the focus of a lot of my thoughts. I wonder if she'll kiss me again, if it _meant_ anything or if she was just fucking with my head—I wouldn't put it past her._ Danny scratched her head vigorously. _Damnit. When I see her next I'm going to give her a piece of my mind._

Danny found herself absently playing with the emerald ring Vlad had given her and scowled. _Why does she give me stuff she knows I'll like!? Why can't we just go back to being enemies? Life was so much more _simple_ when she and I were at each other's throats. Now...I don't know _what_ to think._

Danny rested her head in her hands, propping her elbows on her computer desk.

_Shit._


	68. 080909: Gun

**Author**: Stupid ff dot net acting up again...

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**107 Gun**

Danny swallowed hard as she found her looking down a barrel of a particularly mean-looking gun that Val had somehow come across/made. Danny looked around quickly, hoping to find a way out, but being trapped in the ghost shield as they were...no help from Vlad, and her friends were far behind, along with her parents.

"Say your prayers, ghost," Val purred.

Danny _really_ didn't want to die.

"Please, Val, this is _really_ a _huge_ misunderstanding—I mean, we've worked together to beat things before! You've seen that I only do my best to hel—eep," she finished as the gun pressed more firmly into her torso.

"Begging for your life? How _pathetic_," Val spat.

Danny was shaking slightly as she came to a conclusion that she knew would make life with Val _very_ difficult.

_At least we're going to different colleges,_ Danny thought sadly before she shifted out of her ghostly persona into her human one.

The silence that followed was absolute.


	69. 81009: Scars

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**200 Scars**

"Danny, what's wrong?"

Danny looked up quickly from her desk, noticing that all she'd been doing was drawing lazy circles on a blank piece of paper.

"Oh, uh..." she trailed off and scratched the back of her head. "It's nothing."

"My dear, I know you well enough to tell that something's bothering you," Vlad told her dryly.

Danny's temper flared and she growled softly. "It's not your business."

"It is if it prevents you from being productive."

Danny shook her head. "Leave it, Vlad. It's personal."

"That isn't going to stop me from asking questions, you know."

This time, Danny snarled, her eyes narrowing. "Look, Vlad. I'm in a _very_ bad mood because I lost a _very_ good friend. He's now out for my blood more than he was before, as my being only _half_-human has only damned me further in his eyes. Now I didn't just ruin his mother's career, I _also_ am an affront to nature—who ever heard of a _ghost_/human hybrid? It's unnatural! An abomination! Such a warped, twisted, _pitiful_ creature shouldn't be allowed to exist for the safety of those around it as well as for _itself_." Danny's voice had never risen beyond a normal level, but the tone was pure ice, devoid of warmth, which belied the topic of which she was speaking.

Vlad blinked and leaned back in her chair slowly, Danny watching every movement.

"You know what, too? He's _also_ said things about my mother that I wouldn't dare repeat in polite company because, you see, he thinks my nature is something I was _born_ with. Which _implies_ that mom was impregnated by a ghost and carried me to term and bore me, which, as far as _he_ is concerned, is just as bad." Danny took a deep breath. "Do you know how much that _hurts,_ coming from someone who you counted among your friends?!"

There was a long silence.

"I assume you are speaking of Valerian?"

Danny nodded stiffly.

"If it means anything to you, I am sorry for your loss—whether you believe me or not, I , too, underwent something not dissimilar. I share the same kind of scars."

Danny's gut instinct was to respond with, 'how can you _possibly_ understand?' but she held back, scowling at the floor. "You did?" she asked instead.

Vlad smiled tightly. "Why do you think I never speak of my family?"

Danny's head snapped up as her jaw dropped, her anger fading. "Your own _family_?"

Vlad nodded. "You are lucky that your _family_ accepted you...although I admit, having Valerian on your tail will be quite the danger. Do you think he'd go after your mother?"

Danny shook her head emphatically. "His issue is with _me_. For all he knows, since mom isn't that bright, it could have been purely without her knowledge." Danny hesitated. "But he _might_ go after Sam and Tuck to use as leverage against me—he probably finds them equally abhorrent, _especially_ since Sam is _dating_ me."

"Mm," Vlad murmured thoughtfully. "If there is anything I can do to assist you, let me know."

Danny blinked, mind going blank for a moment before restarting. _Why am I surprised? Vlad basically _jumped_ me a few days ago—if that doesn't say anything about her opinion of me, I don't know _what_ does._

Danny thought for a moment before deciding: "Teach me teleportation."

"What?" Vlad asked, distracted.

"I want _you_ to teach me teleportation."

Vlad looked up from her paperwork and raised an eyebrow delicately. "You want to spend _more_ time in my presence?"

"If I give the people important to me little communicators with which they can contact me at a moment's notice _and_ I know how to teleport, I can be by their side as soon as possible."

"Teleportation doesn't work that way, my dear young woman."

"Than I will _make_ it work that way. But I need _you_ to teach me the basics."

Vlad was silent for a moment before nodding. "Very well."

Danny gave the woman a grateful smile.

"But I will not go easy on you."

"Never thought you would."


	70. 81109: Brain Freeze

**Author**: First off, thank you, Martel, for all your lovely reviews. ^_^ I wish you had an account so I could respond to them!

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**330 Brain freeze**

Danny groaned and rubbed her temple with one hand.

Tucker snickered at her and took another lick on her ice cream cone. "You shouldn't have eaten that so quickly."

Danny snorted. "I thought my lower body temperature would make me immune to brain freezes."

"Apparently not," Tucker said smugly, making Danny punch her lightly on one arm. The smugness faded quickly, however. "Listen, you only eat that fast when you're worried. What's up?"

"Well, I told you about Val, right?"

""Found out you're _half_, vendetta got worse. Yeah. What else?"

"I'm going to start training with Vlad tomorrow. I asked her to teach me teleportation so I can be there to protect you guys, if needed, at a moment's notice. Also, I need _your_ help."

"Oh?"

"I want to make little communicators that'll work regardless of whether or not there is cell phone reception."

"Hm...that'd be a challenge. I like it."

Danny smiled in relief. "Good. Good...that makes me worry a little less."

"You shouldn't put so much pressure on yourself. You'll go gray early and _then_ you'll _look_ like Vlad."

Danny mock-shuddered, although it was an act.

Their conversation drifted to the latest technology that was going to be released onto the market and how if there was any way to integrate it into what Danny was asking.


	71. 81209: Kiss

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**2 Kiss**

"So, uh, knowing _you_, you'll probably want payment for this," Danny said as she watched Vlad prepare an auxiliary room for their use.

Vlad smirked. "Why so little trust, little badger? Perhaps I feel like doing this for you out of the goodness of my heart."

Danny snorted, which made Vlad's smirk grow into a smile. "If you must know, I really hadn't planned on charging anything—I was simply going to give you another pay cut. But since _you_ are the one who suggested recompense...well."

Danny wanted to kick herself. _Good going Danny._ "What do you want?"

The smile became slightly predatory. "A kiss."

Danny blinked. "What?"

"For each lesson, you will pay me with a kiss. On the lips."

Danny flushed scarlet and looked away. "That's nearly _obscene_, Vlad. You _do_ know—"

"You are of legal age to have a relationship with anyone you desire, no matter their age. May I also remind you that I am _technically_ 25?"

"What?"

"That was how old I was when I received my ghost powers. Since I had already physically matured, _that_ was when time stopped for me. So I'm really not a day over 25, no matter what the calendar may say."

Danny balked and rubbed the back of her neck in nervousness.

"Anyway, you didn't seem _too_ adverse to my advances."

If possible, Danny flushed even more. "Vlad, _knock it off._ This is bad if this is a joke."

"It's _not_ a joke," Vlad said, sounding disapproving. "I am being entirely serious."

"Why would _you_ want to kiss _me?_ I mean, I'm just some scrawny, underdeveloped, socially awkward teenager who hasn't even passed a semester in _college_ yet. There's nothing about me that would draw someone like _you_ to me."

"Someone like me?" Vlad asked.

"Well, I mean, you're smart, successful, powerful, attractive...you could have your pick of _anyone_."

Silence descended briefly before Danny felt her face drawn upward by warm, gentle fingers to find herself looking into Vlad's eyes.

"Do you really think that?" Vlad whispered, an emotion Danny couldn't name coloring her words.

"Well, yeah," Danny said, noticing idly how Vlad's fingers moved slowly, gently, down her neck to rest on her shoulder, never moving farther than there.

"I mean, I know Sam likes me because I'm _different_ and we've been told for years that we belong together, so...it just felt kind of natural being with him, and since I'm still more or less a social outcast...well, it's not like I've had anyone telling me how much of a catch I am. My parents are those 'crazy ghost hunters', I have a genius brother who attracts _much_ more attention than I, and it's only recently that I've even begun to develop a chest." A small smile formed on her face. "Thanks to you."

Vlad gave her a small, genuine smile that made Danny's heart skip a beat. "You should smile more," Danny told the billionaire.

"I reserve them for people I actually like," Vlad purred, her fingers gently massaging Danny's shoulder.

"Mm," Danny murmured, relaxing under the touch. "What were we talking about anyway?" she asked absently.

"This," Vlad told her softly before capturing Danny's lips with her own.

It was as good as Danny remembered it being, setting her pulse racing and heat washing through her. To her chagrin, she found herself returning the kiss, moving closer to the billionaire, her hands resting on Vlad's hips, melting beneath Vlad's attentions.

She felt the billionaire's hands stray slowly down her body, the caress leaving shivers in its wake.

_It never felt this way with Sam,_ Danny thought hazily.

Vlad broke the kiss and something in Danny rebelled, her hands tightening on Vlad's waist and pulling her back for another kiss, this one more heated, and the tight control she kept on her less noble self began to falter, not-memories coming to her that goaded her to press her luck—but her self-control was still strong enough that when Vlad pulled away again, she let her go.

Both were breathing quite hard, Vlad looking slightly dazed, making Danny fight down a smirk. It would be utterly uncharacteristic of her, and she didn't feel like explaining her darker self to Vlad, so...

"About those lessons," Danny attempted to say lightly, but it came out more of a seductive purr that made Vlad's eyes flash in some unidentifiable emotion.

"Right," Vlad replied roughly and disentangled herself from Danny. "Let's begin."


	72. 81309: Daydream

**Discalimer**: No.

**162 Daydream**

"Earth to Danny. Calling all Dannys. Dude, girl, where are you?"

Danny blinked and looked at her brother, who was standing over her as she idly put together a chocolate chip cookie recipe. "What?"

"I have been _trying_ to talk to you for 10 minutes now and I get _no_ response. You were _way_ off in la-la land."

Danny laughed slightly and rubbed the back of her neck in nervousness. "Sorry. What were you asking?"

"I was asking where you go now that you don't come home from work at normal time anymore. You're not back for dinner most evenings and that's worrying people."

Danny shifted on her feet, slightly embarrassed. "I cleared it with mom and dad—they understand although kinda sad that they get to see even less of me. I consider it...weaning me off them."

Jazz snorted. "Yeah, well _that_ makes sense, but what are you _doing_?"

There was a pause as Danny put blobs of cookie dough on prepared pans. "I'm training."

"For what?"

"Recently Val found out about me being only _half_ human and now sees me as an affront to nature. I'm _hoping_ that he doesn't lump my family and friends into a similar category, considering you guys like and support me and Sam is even in a _relationship_ with me. So...I'm trying to learn teleportation so I can come to you guys in case he tries to go after you."

"You really think he'd do that?"

Danny sighed. "I don't know _what_ to think. I'm just preparing for the worst."

Jazz smiled faintly and ruffled his sister's hair. "Very mature of you, Danny. How are you training for this?"

Danny simply shrugged. She got the feeling that telling Jazz she was spending even _more_ time with Vlad was a bad decision. "You know how I work."

It was an evasive answer, but Jazz seemed to take it at face value. "Alright. Well, don't push yourself too hard."

"I won't," Danny assured her brother.

"So, what're you making anyway?"

"Chocolate chip cookies—don't eat the batter, you'll get salmonella or something."

She eventually chased Jazz out of the kitchen before heaving a sigh.

_I hate lying to everyone, but...what would I tell them? That I'm spending even _more_ time with Vlad and that I'm paying her for training me in kisses? Really, really _good_ kisses? Yeah, that'd fly _real_ well._

Danny sighed and set the timer on the cookies before sitting in a chair, crossing her arms and legs. It didn't help that she could remember each kiss in perfect detail, could _clearly_ recall how Vlad's body pressed against her, how it felt to have Vlad's hands on her body...

Danny flushed in embarrassment at the direction her thoughts were taking and stood, walking over to the sink to get a glass of water. As she stuck her glass under the running water a thought slowly dawned on her that made her gasp.

_I'm _aroused_ by Vlad. I _want_ her. I want her touch, her taste, and even just _remembering_ makes me ache to be in her embrace again. I...I've never had that before. I mean, I _liked_ kissing Sam, it was pleasant enough, but I could never find it in me to really put together Sam and sex. But just _remembering_ how Vlad's eyes darken when she looks at me makes my mouth go dry and my heart skip a beat._

Danny laughed softly as the water that flowed over her fingers turned into ice crystals as she forgot to regulate her body temperature. _To think that when you finally start developing the desire to become _physical_ with someone it focuses on Vlad. God, Danny, you sure she's not slipping anything into those injections and pills?_

Danny turned off the water and looked at the ice-cube she held in the glass, delicate spiderweb cracks running through the glass from the expansion caused by water turning into ice.

_Well, here's proof that the therapy might just be working. Ugh, I just don't want to deal with my _period...


	73. 81409: Animals

**Author**: Just wanted to take a moment to thank all my readers for, you know, actually _reading_ this piece of work. Thank you all so much!

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**64 Animals**

"Vlad?" Danny asked, standing next to Vlad as she set up the training room again.

"Yes?"

"So, I'm going to college soon and, well, they don't allow animals in the dorm, right? But...you know the big monster ghost-dog? I managed to bring Cujo to heel and now he's my _pet_. But mom and dad don't want to take care of him because he's, well, a _ghost._ But I don't think he can survive in the Ghost Zone anymore, so...would you mind taking care of him? He's not all that bad, honest! Just let him out twice and two meals a day. He won't pee in the house or shred the furniture and he's a great guard dog because he's _very_ territorial."

There was a silence as Danny crossed her fingers behind her back, hoping against hope that Vlad would say 'ok'. However, Vlad was giving her a completely incredulous look. "You want me to take care of _your_ pet?"

"It'll only be for when I'm at school! I'll have him for vacations and stuff and I'll find a way to pay for dog food. _Please_, Vlad?"

Vlad sighed heavily. "I'll think about it."

Danny's face broke into a sunny smile and she hugged Vlad tightly, making the woman gasp. "Thank you, Vlad."

"I didn't even say _yes_."

"But you said you'd consider, which is more than I thought I'd get from you," Danny said after releasing the billionaire.

Vlad sighed and shook her head, idly straightening out her clothes. "Now, shall we start again?"

"Ok," Danny said cheerfully, idly noting the exasperated affection on Vlad's features.


	74. 81509: Emblem

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**135 Emblem**

Danny was constantly amused that her emblem was such a familiar symbol. It was all over the internet, people came to Amity in hopes of seeing her in her characteristic outfit, she occasionally made the national news...then again, she _knew_ how fascinating of a creature she was. Some wanted to study her, some wanted to kill her, some worshiped her, and all points in between.

In other words, the same situation as in the Ghost Zone except the amount of people trying to kill her were significantly fewer.

It was as amusing as it was frustrating, but she figured it was a hazard of the profession. It meant life was never boring and, truthfully, Danny was quite content to have it that way.

Even if she had to try _really_ hard not to laugh whenever someone walked by with a T-shirt that bore her insignia.


	75. 81609: Cheating

**Author:** I made an oops and forgot to delete a prompt I had already done so I wrote it again...before discovering I had written it before. So this is take two of today's chapter.

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**169 Cheating**

Danny was leisurely playing DOOM with her boyfriend and best friend when a thought hit her that made her abruptly log off, pleading lag.

_I'm cheating on Sam, aren't I?_

She leaned back in her chair and ran a hand through her hair. _In letting Vlad kiss me—and kissing her back—I'm cheating on Sam. In _wanting_ Vlad in a way I never wanted Sam, I'm being unfaithful. I guess...I can plead distance, that it would be best if we had a degree of freedom when off at college. Who knows? Maybe Sam'll find someone better than me. I personally think there are _lots_ of people better than me, but...Vlad doesn't think so. Then again, Vlad's also very weird._

Danny sighed heavily and rubbed her temples. _God, if my life wasn't complicated enough before, I'm now having an affair with a woman who's old enough to be my _mom.

Danny paused and thought. _Is that what this is? I'll have to ask Vlad tomorrow. But, for now...let's not think about that._

She logged back on to DOOM and tried to push the nagging thoughts of infidelity out of her mind.


	76. 81709: Swim

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**110 Swim**

Danny lounged in Sam's swimming pool, floating aimlessly on the surface, the water caressing her body gently. Her eyes were closed, the world a fluctuating orange/red as the sunlight fell on her eyelids. She had pleaded fatigue and had gotten the evening off from training with Vlad.

_She's tough,_ Danny thought with a small smile. _Then again, she _is_ giving me a crash course in teleportation—as well as teaching me other stuff on the side. Sneaky bitch._

She felt a disturbance in the water and flipped herself vertical, smiling as Tucker and Sam approached.

"You know, I sometimes wonder where you keep all these things—it's like you have a little pocket of extra space to store all your stuff," Danny teased gently.

"The property is simply bigger than it appears," Sam murmured and pulled Danny close, who chuckled softly and leaned against her boyfriend's naked chest.

"Can you believe we're actually _going_ to college?" Danny murmured as Tucker played with her waterproof-cased iTouch.

"Yeah, still surreal, isn't it?" the technogeek murmured. "I mean, I never thought we'd be separated, but, here we are, going to all different points on the map. Thankfully, due to the marvel of modern technology, we'll still be able to keep in touch!"

Danny nodded enthusiastically. "You'll have to tell me how your private colleges are, since I'm going to a state school."

"Probably won't be that different—just the size and expense," Sam said with a shrug.

"I guess. Still want to hear everything about it."

"Again—the wonders of technology will get us through this."

Danny chuckled and pushed gently away from Sam, looking at her two best friends. "We'll stick together, no matter what, right? I mean, with all the stuff we shared—how can we _not_?"

Tucker beamed and Sam nodded. "Of course!"

"good," Danny said and stretched in the water before wincing. Her entire body ached, but it wasn't entirely from training...at least, that's what she thought. She swam over to the shallow end and stood, running a hand through her hair.

"Hey, Danny."

"What?"

"Have you grown?"

"What?"

Tucker swam over and stood as well before her eyebrows rose. "You _have_ grown a little."

Danny felt a flood of warmth overtake her, making her beam. "YES! It's _working!_" she exclaimed and grabbed Tucker's hands in excitement, her enthusiasm catchy, Tucker grinning back.

"I'm so proud of you—my little ghost-girl, all growing up."

Danny laughed and let go of Tucker's hands, wading through the water to the stairs, happiness bubbling through her.


	77. 81809: Saran Wrap

**Disclaimer**: ha ha no.

**309 Saran wrap**

"Mom! Dad! We're out of saran wrap!" Danny called down the stairs as she threw out the container. She brought her lunch with her every day, so she went through the plastic substance rather quickly. She _tried_ to be eco-conscious, but it was hard with a family who primarily created everything themselves, from electricity to water-heat. She went back to the kitchen table and shoved the sandwich she had created, along with an apple and a bottle of water, into a bag that then migrated to the fridge.

_It's exhausting, the hours that I'm pulling,_ she thought blearily. _I rarely get to see my family and friends anymore, but I'll be able to once I get teleportation down._

"Your range will be limited by the extent of your power," Vlad had told her, standing over her prone and drained form. "Short-range will be easier because it takes less power and you could probably go back and forth a few times, but doing long leaps will require some rest on your part, so make sure wherever you're going is safe first. You don't want to appear in the middle of traffic, turn back into human, and get splattered all over the asphalt."

Danny's nose had wrinkled in disgust. "Ugh. Thanks, Vlad."

"My pleasure," the woman had responded with a small smirk. "Now, you have another half-hour in you. Come."

Danny shook her head and sighed. _She's a goddamn bitch._

The teen made her way slowly up the stairs, to find her brother regarding her curiously.

"What?" she asked flatly.

"You come back every day looking like someone's put you through a cheese grater. Perhaps you should take your training easier."

Danny shook her head slowly. "No. I _need_ to learn to teleport."

"Danny, we can take care of ourselves."

"I _know_ that. But..."

"But you're still possessive and overprotective because we're your family and friends, yeah, I know. Still, it's not good to push yourself to the brink almost every day."

"It's the only way I get better," Danny told Jazz with a weary smile. "I feel a lot better, though—I'm not half as exhausted now as when I first started."

"If you say so. Just...take it easy, ok? We don't need to have you out of it if real trouble shows up."

Danny smiled and shrugged. "No worries—I think I can handle most ghosts that come my way anymore. And I'll be _fine_. You worry too much."

"Of course I do—I'm your older brother. Unless you're lying and coming back exhausted because of some other activity...?"

Danny blinked before a blush colored her cheeks. "JAZZ! I'm not—I wouldn't—"

Jazz laughed and pushed Danny gently towards her door. "Sleep."

Danny finished walking to her room, grumbling about perverted older brothers.


	78. 81909: Armor

**Disclaimer**: Seriously?

**215 Armor**

Danny's eyebrows slowly rose as she exited the Ghost Zone on catching sight of her parents' new project.

"What is _that_?" she asked, floating over to it.

Both her mom and dad jumped at her voice and Danny held up her hands in surrender when they reflexively pointed guns at her. "Just me," she told them, and the two ghost hunters lowered their weapons.

"Don't startle us like that, sweetie, okay?" her dad said, slight exasperation in his voice.

"Sorry," she told them and landed on the floor, changing from ghost to human. "So...what _is_ this?" she asked again, gesturing to the new project.

"This? It's a new type of armor. Not like the Fenton Suit that relied on the person's natural energy to power it, this comes from a...a...kind of _battery._ It's actually based off of _you_."

"What? How?"

"Remember how you let us run a few tests on you?"

"Yeah..." Not one of her more _pleasant_ memories, but nothing had hurt. They certainly hadn't pulled her apart molecule-by-molecule.

"Your energies—ghost and ice—are _stored_ inside you and can be tapped when you need it, but are otherwise dormant. We found out that your ghost reserves are replenished via kinetic energy when you are in human form."

"What?"

"When you move, the excess energy that would be wasted in a normal person is converted into ghost energy—which is why we think your body temperature is also lower. The _thermal _energy that a person would generate from moving is converted into your ice energy and the chemical energy from moving your muscles is transformed into your ghost energy. Which is why you can run out of ghost energy when in ghost form and can only recover it in human form."

Danny blinked. "Huh. So...how'd that help?"

"The key that's used for the ignition can be worn on a person, and as they go about their daily life it stores up the kinetic energy of movement so when they need to use this armor, they simply put the key in the ignition and it _should_ work."

"Should?"

"We're still developing it," her father answered almost sheepishly. "We're breaking ground with this research! If you wouldn't mind helping out, we'd get it done more quickly...._maybe_..."

Danny smiled. "As long as you don't use it against me, of course I'll help!"

_The question is _when_ I'll have time to help out_.

Her father smiled and was about to thank her when a loud _crash_ made them both look quickly to where Jack was supposed to be.

One hand was sticking out of a pile of mechanical parts and both sighed in loving exasperation.

"Let's help her get out."

Danny nodded and walked over, turning all the parts intangible so they could extract her mother.


	79. 82009: Tears

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**44 Tears**

Danny couldn't stop the silent flow of tears down her cheeks as she curled in on herself, burying her head against her knees as she clasped them close to her chest.

_Oh, god, I can't _believe_ I did that...what will she think of me? I didn't want to show anyone _that_...let alone Vlad. It's going to be so damn awkward...I don't want to answer the questions I know she'll have._

It had started off as a normal training session, Vlad putting her through warm-ups as usual, they talking about mundane things that had happened at the office or was in the news.

That was, until Vlad had surprised Danny by attacking.

The younger half-ghost had initially retreated and tried to simply defend herself, but the _creature_ that she had taken into herself—although not entire accepted—had started to stir. And when Vlad hadn't let up, regardless of Danny's protests and pleas, well...

She hadn't _meant_ to seriously injure Vlad in ghost form, let alone in _human_. She had _barely_ managed to stop herself from breaking one of Vlad's bones once the older half-ghost had reverted to her human self. The carefully contained and veiled fear she had seen in Vlad's eyes had snapped her out of it and made her flee deep into the Ghost Zone, seeking refuge in Clockwork's tower. The Ghost of Time had been waiting for her and directed her to a room that, while sparsely furnished, was nonetheless quite comfortable. The gentle ticking of the clocks in the background was also oddly soothing, suppressing the more aggressive part of herself until it was manageable.

"It was your choice," Clockwork reminded her.

"I know," Danny replied, wiping tears away almost savagely. "And I still think it was the best choice. It's just...hard for me to control sometimes."

Clockwork said nothing, but put her hand gently on Danny's shoulder. "You have all the time you need here."

Danny knew the ghost was being _literal_, and so gave her an attempt at a smile. "Thanks, Clockwork."

Clockwork merely gave her a small, enigmatic smile before leaving Danny to her thoughts.

The half-ghost lowered her head onto her knees again and took a deep, sobbing breath. _At least it was _Vlad_. I can't imagine what would have happened if I had lost control like that around Sam or Tuck or my parents..._

Danny let her thoughts drift until she found herself fading back into a human, and then sleep...


	80. 82109: Explain

**Disclaimer**: ha ha no

**222 explain**

"Danielle Fenton."

Danny winced as she walked into the office and put her bag slowly down next to her desk. She turned to face Vlad, who was looking at her impassively from the other side of the desk. Danny's eyes flickered across her face and visible skin, and she was astonished when she could see no hint of bruising or injuries.

"You're okay?" she blurted, her mouth moving before she could think.

Vlad quirked an eyebrow. "Relatively speaking. But I believe I deserve an...explanation for yesterday."

Danny flinched and rubbed the back of her neck in nervousness. "Yeah, I guess you do."

"What happened?" Vlad asked quietly.

"Well..." Danny trailed off and sat down at her desk, her fingers lacing together as she placed her hands in her lap. "It's...complicated. I don't even know where to start."

"From the beginning, preferably."

Danny's lips quirked into a small smile at the dryness of Vlad's tone before her face fell back into one of shame. "It started...it started freshman year. It sounds really, _really_ stupid now, but...it was a really Big Deal back then. I assume you know of the CATs?"

Vlad nodded slightly.

"Well, staying alive left little time for extra studying and then, _surprise!_, the CATs were upon me. Since they, apparently, had the ability to divine my future success in life I panicked. A chain of events led to me getting the answers. _This_ is where the story gets really weird."

Danny took a deep breath. "In a future that was _supposed_ to happen, in the former main time-stream, I used the answers to cheat on the test. Ms. Lancer, of course, had found out about my...academic enhancement beforehand and dragged me and my family to the Nasty Burger to make a point. Because of a number of fights that had occurred in and around the Nasty Burger, the Nasty Sauce—highly explosive, by the way—had been heated to near combustion point."

Danny ran a hand through her hair. "And when my family and friends were there, it _indeed_ reached that critical point and exploded." Danny paused. "I survived. No-one else did."

"But—"

"Just...stick with me." Danny took a deep breath. "This is where I'm not certain of the chain of events—I heard them from _you_ relating them to me, so it might have been colored by your perceptions. After the explosion, I moved in with you since, well, no other half-ghosts in the world, right? You were the best choice. Unfortunately, I descended into a deep depression and apparently asked for you to separate my ghost and human halves."

"With disastrous consequences."

"Yeah. My ghost half went rouge. It separated _your_ ghost and human halves and merged with your ghost half."

"Creating a very powerful, _very_ malignant ghost."

"Well, yeah. Which then went on a rampage and wasted a good part of the world. All this was _supposed_ to happen...but obviously hasn't."

"Why?"

"Clockwork intervened."

"You've met her."

"She's a...mentor of mine."

"Impressive. Continue."

"Anyway, Clockwork was employed by the Observants to get rid of me before I went bad, but...in the end she manipulated events so that things remain _this_ way, with me being who I am and the world still being in one piece. However..." Danny trailed off and swallowed.

"However?" Vlad prompted.

"My evil self still survived—she was just taken out of the time-stream because _her_ future collapsed when _this_ reality was made the main one."

"Is she still around?"

Danny smiled bitterly. "Yes and no."

"Oh?"

"I've always...I've always been afraid that one day, she'd escape and get rid of everything I care for in revenge for my imprisoning her. I had to...I wanted to find a way to remove her from the picture, to neutralize or destroy her. I couldn't _kill_ her because I didn't know _how_. So...I came up with an alternative. Clockwork had been keeping her in suspension, so I went to the ghost of time and outlined what I planned to do. She wasn't very..._enthusiastic_ about my decision, but, as always, let me do what I wanted. In the three years I've known her she's taught me more than anyone else by letting me do things _my_ way and then making me clean up my mess afterwards."

"So, what was this plan of yours and did it succeed?"

"Yeah, it worked, kinda. As to what I did..." Danny sighed and picked nervously at her fingernails. "I figured that since ghosts can apparently possess and take over other ghosts I could apply the same principle. All it would require would be weakening Phantom until she was exhausted and having a will that was more powerful than hers."

Danny licked her lips in nervousness. "Clockwork put us in a pocket time where we could destroy tons of stuff and nothing on the outside would be affected. In there, I had all the time I wanted to try to defeat Phantom, and if I lost, Clockwork could simply collapse the time and destroy Phantom entirely."

"Why didn't she do that in the first place?"

"She's an omnipotent, immortal being. Who knows?" Danny sighed. "In any event, it was a long, hard battle—not that I expected anything less." Danny shuddered. "I lost. It was only because she was gloating that I was able to complete my plan in the first place. She was telling me how weak I was, the finishing blow glowing around her fist when I just...I had nothing to lose, so I phased intangible with the last dregs of my energy and possessed her."

Danny was silent for a long moment, eyes haunted as she briefly relived the experience. "It was horrible, Vlad. She wasn't evil, she wasn't misguided, she was in _such pain._ She had taken the agony that was her baseline emotion and transformed it into rage, into hate, into the _need_ to see other people suffer as much as she was suffering. She was insane, twisted, but _human_ even though she claimed to have given up that half of herself."

Danny swallowed. "And to be able to triumph over her, I had to _accept_ all of that. I had to take everything that she was and make it a part of _my_ Self. It was like...take all the darkness in your heart, all the parts that you are terrified of, that you want to disassociate yourself from, and bring them all crashing to the fore. You _are_ your darkest self."

Danny squeezed her eyes shut. "Vlad, you have _no idea_ how painful that was! To be...to know...everything that she was..._is_...and have to _become_ it...I've tried to accept it, to _know_ it is a part of me, even if I despise it, but it's _so damn hard._ I'm also ¾ ghost now...however you may take _that_. I try to remain in control, I try to remain 'good', but there are times...when I don't. When that darkest self wins. It's one reason why there have been fewer ghost attacks even before you intervened—no-one really wants to fight me anymore, not when I take such _obvious_ pleasure in tearing them to pieces. Not killing them, just utterly _crippling_ them."

Danny's voice descended to a whisper. "My ghost form's changed, but I learned how to hide it. When I become angry, my eyes glow _red_ now, not green as they used to. She's bled into every aspect of my life, and while I try to just say 'that's how it is, and if I want to give her _less_ power I must _truly_ accept her', it's...hard. I couldn't tell anyone, not Sam or Tuck or Jazz. They'd...Jazz would certainly take desperate measures, since she actually _met_ and _remembers_ my darker self. I couldn't tell my parents, either, since...well, ½ is bad enough. This _darkness_ in my being is _consuming_ me, Vlad!"

Danny was shaking slightly as she spoke. "I'm terrified of losing who I am."

It wasn't cathartic to voice all her fears—instead, it only made her feel even worse, made her stomach twist in apprehension and pain.

_You're a monster,_ came the soft, unbidden thought. _More ghost than human. More evil than good. You are doomed to repeat what _she_ did...because, as she said before you captured her, _she still existed._ Which means, inevitably, that _you_ become _her_ no matter what you may try to do to prevent it._

"Danielle. Danielle. _Danny_."

Danny blinked, drawn out of her thoughts by nearly-scalding hands on her shoulders, she looking into concerned turquoise eyes. "V-Vlad?"

Vlad leaned in and gently, carefully, pressed her lips against Danny's, making Danny shiver. Danny reached out and gripped Vlad's upper arms, clinging to the older woman for support—both mentally and physically.

"Danny," Vlad said softly once she had pulled back slightly, "I want you to listen to me. Okay?"

Danny nodded slowly.

"I want you to let me _help_ you. You are _still_ Danielle Fenton. You are still a sweet, charming, lovely young woman. You are simply dealing with something most people never have to face—the darker side of you. I can at least _sympathize_ with you, since I deal with my darker self every day; some would say I _am_ my darker self."

Danny distantly remembered having thought that Vlad would be able to help her, and now Vlad was _offering._

"You don't hate me? Don't think I'm...I'm.._wrong_? Repulsive? An abomination? Something that...that...that shouldn't _exist?_ That the evil in me will inevitably _consume_ me, leaving nothing of Danielle Fenton?"

"I will prevent that," Vlad said softly, fingers tracing Danny's face.

"Really?"

"Yes."

There was a long moment of silence before Danny _yanked_ Vlad closer, pressing their lips together in a heated, desperate kiss, her hands running up Vlad's arms so her fingers could twine lightly in silken silver hair. She was pleased when Vlad responded with equal heat and for a breathless moment, all that mattered was _Vlad_.

Who had been so kind to her. Had given her a job, was training her in teleportation, had vowed to _be there_ when she struggled with her darkest being.

Who had come to matter to her more than anyone else in her life.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," she murmured once they broke apart. "I don't want to _ever_."

"I understand. But it is _human_ to be hurt and hurt others," Vlad replied, her voice slightly husky from an emotion Danny couldn't quite name. "And you, my dear, are still quite _human_."

For some reason, that assertion made her relax and give Vlad a bright smile. "Thanks."

"Now, while I would love to spend much longer in this particular position, we have, unfortunately, work to do."

"What?" Danny asked blankly before registering that she had Vlad straddling her lap, Danny's fingers still delicately playing with Vlad's hair while the woman's hands were resting gently on her chest.

Danny swallowed and flushed crimson. "Oh. Uh..." Danny pulled her hands back and let Vlad go, who stood and rearranged her hair, the smallest of smirks on her lips as Danny watched her with strangely rapt attention.

_How can she make _moving_ attractive?!_

"Stop staring and start working," Vlad told Danny as the older half-ghost moved towards her desk.

Danny caught herself and flushed crimson again before murmuring something along the lines of "Okay," and turning her attention to her work.


	81. 82209: Stay

**Disclaimer**: No.

**166 Stay**

"Um, Sam? Have a moment?"

Sam looked up at Danny, who was hovering in the window. He gave her a smile and nodded. "Always for you."

Danny's stomach twisted in guilt as she landed and transformed back into human. "So...we're all going off to college now, right?"

"Yes," Sam replied, his tone indicating he was wondering where Danny was going with this.

"And we'll _basically_ be across the country from each other, yeah?"

Sam nodded again.

Danny fidgeted for a moment before sighing and stating, "I don't think we can stay as we are. Stay together. As boyfriend and girlfriend. I mean, I _like_ you and I want to _stay your friend_ but..." Danny looked away. "There are better people out there than me. People who would suit you better, are more attractive, smarter...meant for _you_. I've really like these past years—you were a great boyfriend, more than I could have ever hoped for. But I don't think we can stay together. Not anymore."

Sam was silent for a long moment, avoiding Danny's gaze. A bitter laugh slowly passed his lips, "Y'know, funny thing is that I was going to have the same talk with _you_, just couldn't get the balls to do it."

Danny's eyebrows raised slowly. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean...you've been distant of late, and even though I know you care about me, we _are_ going to have radically different lives, and well...I think we've outgrown each other."

Danny's shoulders slumped in relief. "So...still friends?" Danny asked, walking over to Sam and extending her hand.

He gave her a lopsided smile and took Danny's hand in his own. "Always."

They released each other's hands before Sam said, "You know, that was a better break-up than most, I feel."

"Well, I mean, it helps that we _both_ felt the relationship was dying."

"This is true," Sam said in a mock-sage voice.

The two looked at each other for a long moment before Danny spoke up: "Want to go for a fly?"

Sam's eyes lit up. "Sure. This a good-bye thing?"

Danny transformed into her ghost form and grinned. "Just maybe. We'll both be busy packing and traveling. I have the least way to go, so I'm helping Tucker with packing tomorrow. You want my help on Tuesday?"

"Sure. How about you?"

"You forget that I have ghost powers and crazy, crazy parents."

Sam laughed, but the laugh turned into a squawk of indignation when Danny swept him off his feet and into a bridal-style carry. "Danny!"

"It's easiest this way," Danny teased and phased them both intangible before taking to the skies.


	82. 82309: Books

**Author**: Another shout-out to my lovely readers and a thank-you to all those who review.

**Disclaimer**: Nope

**24 Books**

"Do you have _any_ books at all?" Danny asked, closing a box full of clothing.

"Nope," Tucker replied cheerfully. "It's all digital."

Danny shook her head in mute amusement. "You're a trip, Tuck."

"It's not like _you_ have any more books than I do, Danny," Tucker teased. "At least _I_ read."

"Hey! I _totally_ read."

"Oh yeah? What've you read recently?"

"Uh..." Danny trailed off and flushed.

Tucker grinned toothily. "You've been reading fanfiction again, haven't you?"

"Have not!" Danny protested, but it was a weak, token protestation.

"Okay, so, what was it?"

Danny rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Okay, so, you showed me the Transformers movie, right?"

"You've been reading _Transformers_ fanfiction?!"

Danny winced. "Do you have to say it so _loud_?"

Tucker laughed and shook her head. "That's _ok_, girl. It's not a _bad_ thing...it's just funny. Do you have any specific pairing?"

Danny flushed and remained stubbornly silent, although she may have packed some of Tucker's things more roughly than necessary.

"Aw, come _on_. I won't judge you even if you have a crack pairing," Tucker cajoled.

Danny pouted. "It _isn't_ a crack pairing...not really."

"Oh?"

Danny sighed. "Do I really have to?"

"How long do you want me to keep on bugging you?"

Danny snorted. "Point." She sighed before answering in a grumble, "Optimus and Megatron."

There was a brief silence before Tucker started laughing.

"What?! What's so funny?"

"N-nothing. Nothing at all. _Why_, though, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Why?" Danny parroted. "I dunno. It's just...I guess...huh. Well, I mean, the two of them have such _history._ And chemistry. I mean, if they weren't on opposite sides, they'd totally be—"

"Need I remind you you're talking about alien _robots_?"

Danny flushed. "It's not like I read the smut!"

"You've _never_ had an interest in that anyway. You and your silly relationship fics."

"They _aren't_ silly!"

Tucker waved a hand. "Whatever. I'm partial to Sam and Bee, so I don't know if I'm much better."

"Yeah, considering that that'd be cross-species relations. I mean, at least _my_ pairing is of the same species."

"Hey, love transcends all!"

Danny laughed. "Whatever. Wait. You've been reading fanfiction, too."

"When bored, yeah."

"Shameless pervert."

"Hey, name-calling isn't nice."

Danny harrumphed before smiling faintly "Whatever. I've also been reading magazines and newspapers. Vlad's office doesn't necessarily carry light reading and I can only goof off for so long before she starts giving me dirty looks." _Well, not necessarily the dirty Tucker might think..._

"You read in Vlad's office?"

"Well, yeah. I get bored, or sometimes finish before I can go home. So, I read either online or borrow materials from her secretary."

"You know, you've been talking an awful lot about Vlad," Tucker observed, carefully packing some electronic object Danny didn't recognize.

"Well...she _is_ a major part of my life right now," Danny said slowly. "How could I _not_ talk about her?"

"I guess," Tucker said slowly. "It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Why'd you break up with Sam?"

The topic jump made Danny frown. "Well, we _are_ going to be in different parts of the country and, well, the relationship was just...sputtering out."

"Any particular reason for that sputtering?"

Danny blinked and frowned. "Maybe. Sam said _he_ felt the relationship was dying, too, and seemed almost _relieved_ when I told him I was breaking it off."

Tucker cocked an eyebrow. "Uh-huh," she said slowly.

There was a brief pause before Tucker spoke again: "Danny, I'm your best friend, right?"

"Since elementary school, yeah."

"So we can talk about anything."

"Yeah."

"And I can pry and you won't kill me."

"Um, duh?"

"Okay, just making sure."

"Why?"

"Cause I'm about to ask questions you won't like."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you in love with Vlad?"

There was a beat of blank incomprehension as Danny stared at Tucker. "What?" she asked flatly.

"Are you in love with Vlad?" Tucker repeated, hands on her hips as she looked squarely at Danny.

"I...I wouldn't call it _love..._" Danny trailed off. "And anyway, does it matter?"

"_Yes,_ Danny. It matters. A whole damn lot." Tucker's voice had gone hard. "You _do_ know that she's old enough to be your _mom_?!"

Danny shifted. "She..."

Tucker shook her head sharply. "She's tried to _kill_ your mom, seduce your dad, and _kill you._ Or at least convert you to her side. She's _used_ you to further her own ends, captured us to lure you into situations that could have removed you from being a pain her side _forever._ She's used her ghost powers to execute corporate takeovers, has lied and cheated to get what she wants. What's to say that she isn't doing the same to _you_ now_?"_

Danny shifted her weight and sighed, looking down at the ring on her right hand. "I know. I _know_. _I know!_ She's done _so_ _many_ bad things in the past, and is a completely unapologetic bitch. Working for her, I've seen first-hand just how much of a sadistic, evil person she can be. I've seen her tear people's livelihoods to shreds through her business maneuvering, watched her take complete advantage of someone's trust and ignorance, seen her manipulate things on a near _international_ level to achieve her own goals—most of which are completely and utterly amoral. She's cold-hearted, calculating, and almost entirely without guilt. Do you think someone who was trying to convince me to join her side would show me all those things?" Danny half-snapped.

Tucker frowned. "Then why do you love her, knowing all those things?"

"I _don't _love her and I don't know!" Danny cried and threw her hands up in frustration. "She's just...been so damn _kind_ to me. She gave me a job that pays _significantly_ more than any other I could have found, _she_ is the one paying for my hormone therapy—"

"Bullshit."

"No! She's fronting all the costs. She's also helping train me so I can teleport if you guys need me, she's given me all kinds of gifts, has slowed down the number of ghost attacks _and_ has helped me during my fights, hasn't attacked my mom or you guys in a while..."

Danny's voice hitched as a blush colored her face scarlet. "You haven't _seen_ the way she looks at me. The way her gaze changes, how she can make me feel like I'm _beautiful_. Not just..._me—_a scrawny, underdeveloped tomboy. She speaks to me like I'm an adult, instead of the kid most assume me to be, _believes_ me to be truly intelligent. She..." Danny fell silent, not wanting to voice her other thoughts.

_When she touches me she sets my body alight. When she kisses me, it's like nothing else in the world exists but _us_. Her smoldering glances across her desk send my heart racing and make my mouth go dry. I _want_ her...and I know, I just _know,_ that she wants me, too._

"But it's _wrong,_" Danny whispered, hands clenching. "I _know_ it's _wrong_. I know that...that once I'm in college it'll fade, because it's just these new hormones talking. That I'll come to my senses. That it'll have just been all a dream, an illusion." Danny shook her head and caught Tucker's eyes. "So, no, I'm not really _in love_ with Vlad. It's all...all just...nonsense. Stupidity."

Tucker walked to her and looked at her closely, making Danny fidget. She _knew_ her friend was perceptive, and so didn't really want to meet her eyes, but knew that she had no choice. Afterall, she wanted to desperately believe that what she was feeling towards Vlad was nothing more than lust.

There was a deep silence before Tucker sighed and took a step back. "You're a mess. You _do_ know that denial is more than just a river in Egypt."

"What am I in denial about?!" Danny protested huffily as she wrestled with some of Tucker's towels.

"Dude, Danny. Jazz may be the smart one, but _I'm_ the perceptive one. Sure, I saw that you and Sam were going downhill throughout senior year, but it _really_ started to go once you started working with Vlad. And _then_ the stories you tell about her changed very quickly from 'god I can't believe that bitch!' to something _much_ more affectionate."

"_Affectionate?_" Danny semi-squawked.

"Mm-hm," Tucker murmured, packing away another electronic thing.

Danny shifted uneasily. "I...guess?"

"Have you guys kissed?"

Danny stared at her best friend, who gave her her best innocent look.

"What?" Tucker asked childishly, gently folding something into a towel before placing it in a padded bag.

"What...why...y-you...why the hell would you care in the first place?"

"Because I'm your friend and if she's playing you I want to put a stop to it _now_ before you get _really_ involved."

_Really involved?_ Danny thought. "What do you mean, 'really involved'?" she asked.

Tucker gave her a dry look that made Danny flush.

"You can't be serious!" the half-ghost protested.

"I'm _entirely_ serious, Danny," Tucker said softly. "I don't want to see you hurt, _especially_ by someone like _her_."

Danny paused then sighed unhappily, running a hand through her hair. "This doesn't go beyond us?"

"Promise."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Danny sighed. "Alright, so....well, yeah. We've kissed."

Tucker's eyebrows snapped up to her hairline. "Bullshit."

"Nope," Danny replied, a small smile fluttering across her face.

Tucker shook her head again and laughed softly. "You never do anything normally, do you?"

"If it helps you at all, she'll never age beyond 25 years-old."

Tucker blinked and frowned. "What?"

"So...when I finally hit physical maturity, I'll stop aging."

"What?! Seriously?"

Danny nodded. "Now...I can't die unless someone goes out of their way to waste me. And even then, I'll still probably survive as a ghost."

Tucker stared at Danny for a long moment before delicately placing something down on her bed and walking over. Danny was unable to read Tucker's face and was completely surprised when she found herself dragged into a crushing hug.

"I'm so sorry," Tucker whispered softly.

Danny chuckled softly. "What, are you gonna have your period soon? You're not usually this up-and-down."

"Shut it," Tucker gently admonished. "Is that why you like her now? Because she'll be around when the rest of us are dead?" she asked softly.

Danny winced. "If I don't get killed before you all," she replied quietly.

Tucker shook her head sharply. "Don't talk like that, Danny. You'll see—you'll survive everything and more. Just...just remember that I'm here for you, okay? Always."

Danny gave her best friend a gentle, fond smile. "I know. Same to you, y'know. If _you_ ever have boy trouble in college, we're going to work it out, whether it means me listening to you on the phone or coming over to your college and kicking some testosterone-fueled ass."

Tucker laughed and let Danny go, gently patting her shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. C'mon, help me pack up my Wii."

–

**Author**: no...my fandoms aren't bleeding into each other...nope. Not at all. -_-b


	83. 82409: Office

**Author**: Just a warning--this chapter falls under '**M**' more than 'T', so...yeah. The fic is T overall, but sometimes the story gets away from me and I end up with a chapter like this one...

Another time: THIS CHAPTER IS **M** RATED. Just to make sure...

**Disclaimer**: not mine.

**327 Office**

"I can't believe it's my last day working here," Danny murmured as she sat down in her chair in Vlad's office.

Vlad gave her a small, wry smile. "Time has passed far too quickly, hasn't it?"

"I guess," Danny said and looked at the stack of work on her desk. "That didn't stop you from giving me the normal amount of work."

"Why should it?" Vlad replied evenly, but Danny could detect the slightest bit of humor in her voice.

_She wants to keep me here as long as possible,_ Danny thought once she started working on the paperwork, and the thought made her entire body tingle in a surprisingly pleasant manner.

"_Are you in love with Vlad?"_

The question had haunted her the majority of the night, making it harder for her to sleep than usual. Because it was a _good_ question—what exactly were her feelings towards Vlad? She knew, now that it had been brought to her attention, that she wanted Vlad—very, very badly—but...was it _love_? Danny wasn't sure. Wasn't being in love all about thinking the person is wonderful regardless of his or her faults? Sure, she was _grateful_ towards Vlad for any number of things, but she was very much aware of just how _evil_ she could be.

Then, was it just _lust_?

The day passed leisurely, nothing breaking the routine for them, at least, not until the end of the day.

Danny set aside the last piece of work and looked over to Vlad, and gave her a small smile. "Done."

"Mm. Do you want to have a training session today?" Vlad asked quietly, still focused on her work.

Danny paused and stood, walking over to Vlad's desk and stood there for a moment, just watching her, before saying, "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Vlad parroted before looking up after having signed her name on a rather official-looking document, catching Danny's eyes.

"Mm-hm," Danny murmured, mind slightly distant

_Did_ she love Vlad?

How would she find out anyway?

_That lipstick's very pretty._

Emboldened for a reason she couldn't name, Danny leaned across the desk to gently press her lips against Vlad's, her feet levitating slightly off the floor in order for she to reach.

Vlad kissed her sweetly back, and Danny felt the same pleasant warmth trickle through her entire being, and found that she had phased her lower body intangible so she could walk through the desk to make kissing the older half-ghost easier. Was _this_ feeling love? Or was it just _want_, simply _desire_?

She gasped as she was pulled the rest of the way through the desk, to find herself bracing her hands on either side of Vlad's chair, one of the billionaire's hands on the small of her back while the other gently caressed her shoulders and neck, making her shiver.

Her stomach twisted in pleasant knots when Vlad's tongue caressed the seam of her lips, and Danny was more than happy to allow her entrance.

Before Vlad, Danny would have said she liked kissing. Once she had been kissed by the older half-ghost a few times, Danny would have said she _liked_ kissing. Now, she was pretty sure she was addicted. She and Sam had french-kissed a few times before, sure, but _nothing_ compared to how electricity seemed to shoot along her nerves and pool in her stomach like this. She was pretty sure she must have moaned from how Vlad's hand on her lower back tightened.

Maybe it wasn't love. But she definitely felt _something_ towards Vlad. She could live with it just being lust, with it only being an intense physical attraction that stole her breath away—in fact, that might be easier. Nothing deeper to complicate matters. Just sheer, beautiful, intoxicating _want._

The part of her that was less-than-pure was fielding ideas to Danny, who was actually taking them into consideration. She didn't have to guess at what turned Vlad on—having absorbed something that was half-Vlad had given her a rather intimate knowledge. Which she was going to use.

Because she really, _really_ wanted Vlad.

Her own hands had migrated without her conscious knowledge to unbutton the light vest that Vlad wore over a nearly-insubstantial white long-sleeve shirt. She made sure she brought up her natural body temperature, but could tell she was still colder than normal when Vlad gasped and caught her hands while breaking the kiss. Danny allowed her hands to be stilled and slowly opened her eyes.

Oh, she was going to do awful, awful things to Vlad, and the older half-ghost would, more likely than not, enjoy every moment.

But, _why_?

Why not?

"Danny," Vlad breathed as Danny rested herself delicately on Vlad's lap.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice a soft, seductive purr, her eyes half-open and focused entirely on Vlad's reactions.

The billionaire's breath noticeably caught and Danny took the minute pause to gently, teasingly brush her lips against Vlad's prior to kissing just next to her mouth and slowly making her way up Vlad's jaw.

"Danny," Vlad said again, making Danny stop just short of her ear.

"Yes?" Danny replied once more.

"What are you _doing_?"

"It isn't obvious?" Danny half-asked before gently biting down on Vlad's earlobe, her tongue idly swirling around the post of an earring Vlad had in.

The mayor made an interesting sound that made Danny chuckle softly.

Danny allowed herself to be drawn away so she was facing Vlad, the billionaire's hands tight on her upper arms. "Do you...do you have _any_ idea what you are _doing_? Let alone _to me_?"

Danny's lips pulled into a lazy smile. "Oh, I know."

"_Why_?"

"Because _I want you,_" Danny half-growled, her hands starting on Vlad's blouse. All this talking was annoying. She wanted to _taste_, to _feel_, to make Vlad _squirm_, to watch as the carefully cultivated masks were shattered beneath her hands, and all this _talking_ nonsense was getting in the way!

Vlad let go to grab Danny's hands again, a look of utter astonishment on her face. "You wa—," her voice wavered and broke before she regained it, "you want me."

"_Badly_," Danny confirmed. "You haunt my nights, I look forward to our training sessions because of the _payment_ you so requested, even a passing touch from you sends tingles throughout my body," she purred, leaning in so her palms rested flat against Vlad's chest, Vlad's grip giving underneath her movement. "Why do you have such a hard time believing someone would want you? I bet you have people throwing themselves at your feet."

Vlad licked her lips and tried not to look Danny in the eyes. "While that is true, they don't want _me_."

"I see," Danny said, drawing out the s. "Well, _I_ want _you_ for you."

"I know," Vlad replied before something seemed to shift and Danny was drawn into a heated, hungry kiss that made her moan and shiver.

Vlad's hand drew up her back and made her arch under the touch, craving the contact as her own hands finally exposed Vlad's stomach. The skin was smooth and warm beneath her touch, silken against her fingertips. It was a beautiful sensation, but it wasn't nearly enough.

The kiss broke, allowing Danny to work on the mayor's ear and neck, making the older half-ghost's breathing erratic. She herself made a completely undignified sound when Vlad's fingers slipped through her shirt and made their way slowly up her spine. She gasped and wriggled when those same fingers trailed down the sides of her body, the lightest pressure from the older half-ghost's nails sending tremors through Danny, distracting her.

She yelped when she found herself pressed against the desk, it digging into her back, Vlad leaning over her and somehow finding all the right places that made Danny gasp and cling to the older half-ghost, completely powerless even though it had started off as...as what? As Danny wanting to do something like this to Vlad that put her in Danny's position.

Well, it wasn't as if she couldn't do that from where she was.

Danny's hands slipped down Vlad's chest and she began to carefully fondle Vlad's breasts through the bra she had neglected to remove, making the billionaire shiver. Danny pressed her lips against the top of Vlad's ear before shoving the mayor back into her chair, surprising the older half-ghost. Danny's hands pinned Vlad's forearms to the armrests of her chair before she caught Vlad's lips, pulling her into a lazy, sensuous, heated kiss that left them both breathless. From there, her lips traveled down Vlad's neck, leaving butterfly kisses in her wake.

She felt Vlad beginning to strain against her hold, but Danny's hands tightened—she didn't often let on how strong she had become as a result of the decision she had made, and she could tell Vlad was both astonished and...slightly turned-on.

_Bet she doesn't find many people who can overpower her,_ Danny thought smugly as she undid the front-clasp of Vlad's bra with her teeth (it wasn't easy, but she was inspired, so it didn't matter). Her lips moved across the soft flesh and Vlad's resistance vanished once Danny's lips found her nipple.

"_Danny,_" she heard the older half-ghost breathe, desire making her voice husky and low.

Danny shivered and continued to lavish attention on Vlad's chest, her hands letting go of Vlad's arms to roam her stomach and trail down her thighs and slip under the skirt Vlad was wearing, trailing along the inside of her leg.

Vlad groaned before grabbing Danny's hand and stopping her, the tension in her body saying she didn't _want_ to, but something was stopping her. She phased it intangible and used her other hand to push back on Danny, making her look at Vlad quizzically.

The woman was flushed and breathing hard, her eyes dark with a need that made Danny's heart race.

_She wants me, too. She _wants _me! Vlad Masters wants _me!

Perhaps it shouldn't have given her as much pleasure as it did, but it somehow seemed to make everything right with the world.

The older half-ghost swallowed before saying, "Can't."

"Why not?" Danny asked, intrigued and slightly put-out. "I'm age of consent, you want me, I want you..."

Vlad took a deep, shuddering breath, "_Because_ while you seem to have emotionally matured into your sexuality, your body is still playing catch-up. It wouldn't...your _body_ wouldn't be sexually stimulated."

Danny blinked. _She means I wouldn't, oh, damn, what's the word...? The fact that she _cares_ about that though..._"Huh. Hadn't thought of that."

"Of course you didn't—you're still a teenager and adapting to hormones that most your age have been dealing with for a few years," Vlad drawled, although there still was an edge to her voice that made Danny shiver.

"I still want you," she insisted.

Vlad smiled and gave Danny a lingering kiss that made her grin like a fool once it had broken.

"Do you still want those lessons?" Vlad asked, her hands lightly stroking Danny's arms.

Danny paused and thought, her own fingers gently tangling in Vlad's hair. "Mm...no. I should go home, spend time with my parents and stuff, since they won't be seeing me for a while."

"_I_ won't be seeing you for a while either."

Danny grinned and placed her forehead against Vlad's. "I'll have to come to your place every week to get the medication I need, won't I?"

Vlad's face slowly split into a wry smile. "You will."

"So I'll see you weekly. But you aren't allowed to stalk me."

Vlad gave Danny an indignant look that had Danny laugh softly. Danny disentangled herself from the older half-ghost before she floated up and off Vlad and landed on her feet next to the mayor. Danny took a deep breath before straightening her clothes and going over to her belongings, arranging them before slinging the bag over her shoulder. "I'll be seeing you, Vlad," Danny told the billionaire, giving her a bright smile.

The mayor huffed in exasperated amusement as she finished buttoning her vest, having pulled herself together as Danny did. "Yes, you will."

Danny nodded happily before attempting a medium-distance teleportation on her own—and, to her amazement, ended up in the middle of her room. She patted herself on the back before cheerfully setting about changing into her normal clothes, mind still occasionally drifting to what had happened in the office.


	84. 82509: Hands

**Disclaimer**: not mine.

**114 Hands**

It haunted Danny, the feel of Vlad's hands on her body, and it made her nervous and jumpy and more than a little ashamed. While Vlad _might_ only physically be 25, she still had _decades_ of experience over her, was still very much her mom's age mentally. Yet, _she_ had jumped _Vlad._ Not the other way around—it was _she_ who made the first move, who kissed Vlad.

Where that kiss had lead was also, in part, her fault. If she hadn't listened to her darker impulses, if she hadn't succumbed to just how _good_ it was to have Vlad caressing her with those exquisite, masterful—pardon the pun—hands...she wouldn't be dealing with the burning shame of knowing that she really had given up a nice, stable relationship with Sam for the burning _need_ that Vlad was to her.

So, while she helped Sam with his packing, and teased and interacted with him like she always did, she couldn't help but, in the quieter moments, remember what it felt like to be truly _alive_ under the calculated, impassioned work of her former arch-enemy's hands.


	85. 82609: Moving In

**Author**: They say 'write what you know', so that's what I'm doing.

**Disclaimer**: No.

**305 Moving in**

Danny wasn't quite sure what she had been expecting, but her dorm room actually had come pretty close to what she _had_ thought it'd be like.

It was really small, but at least there were windows and it was a _double_. It meant that she had only _one_ roommate to scare off, since she doubted that ghosts would leave her alone just because she had changed locations.

Actually, she might end up meeting _new_ ghosts to deal with, which would really suck, but, unfortunately, was part of her life.

Her roommate, however, was a complete surprise.

Her last name was very, very Irish, so she had been expecting a red-hair green-eye pale-skinned girl—instead, what she got was an obviously Korean girl. Danny had stood in the doorway for a moment before recovering herself.

"Hi," she said awkwardly.

The girl looked away from pinning up some baseball paraphernalia and promptly asked, "Are you a Yankees fan?"

Danny blinked. "No. Why?"

The girl gave her a half-smile. "I wouldn't be able to live with you if you were—I'm a Boston fan."

For a reason Danny couldn't entirely pinpoint, the brief conversation broke what awkward tension there was in the room.

The families were introduced, and Danny was amused to discover that their parents's body types were switched—in Julia (her roommate's) family, her father was the one with the girth, as Danny's mother was, and Julia's mother and Danny's father were both on the lighter side. Danny's brother was introduced, as were Julia's brothers (who were twins, although you would _never_ guess that), and the astonishing thing was that everyone seemed to get along.

The basic furniture in the room was moved around until it was satisfactory, then their own items made their way in. beds were made, posters were put up, computers were placed on desks, and very quickly it became...well, more than just a dorm room, but a temporary home. Danny covertly set up a ghost-shield generator that Vlad had given her—it would allow humans to pass freely, but would stop ghosts in their tracks. It was also completely clear, so no-one would ask why their room had a toxic-looking glow around it.

Then came the good-byes, and even though Jazz did the typical older-brother thing ("Good riddance, you pest." "Yeah, same to you, jerkwad."), Danny could tell both her mother and father were trying not to cling. They _were_ about to become empty-nest-ers.

"We'll see you later, Danny," her father said, his voice slightly gruffer than usual. "Thanksgiving, right?"

"Yeah," Danny replied with a smile. "Although if you need me before then, just call. I can get there quickly."

There was a pause before her dad smiled. "I know. Goodbye, sweetheart."

Danny's mother dragged her into a crushing hug that made Danny squirm and laugh before she was let go. Danny gave her mom a bright smile and hugged her back. "I love you. I'll be back before you know it."

Danny's mother nodded, tears welling in her eyes. Then Danny found herself waving them away, her hand drifting down to her side as the RV blasted away. Danny closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then walked back into her dorm, and into a new phase of her life.


	86. 82709: Day

**Disclaimer**: ha ha no

**124 Day**

Danny's first day away from home was blissfully uneventful. It was freshman orientation, and Danny was shown around the campus, everyone participating in silly group-building activities that Danny found more than a little pointless.

But, there were no ghosts, and that was what mattered. She would go looking for trouble later that night, just to see if there were any ghosts inherent in the area. She hadn't _heard_ any ghost-stories, but just because she hadn't heard anything didn't mean they weren't there.

The weather was still unfortunately hot, and while everyone around Danny was sweating bullets, Danny was happily cool, thanks to her natural air-conditioning. Sure, it roused some suspicious looks, but since no-one could pinpoint her ability to remain cool on anything paranormal (even though it was), they left her alone.

By day, the campus was a sprawling complex of buildings, and Danny was more than a little grateful that she could fly and teleport. She'd have to be _careful_ while performing these activities, but when _wasn't_ that they case? Still, her classes had her going all over the place. She was taking the normal amount of credits for her classes (4 classes, but 4.5 credits): Introductory Physics I, Calculus I, Japanese I (she had been abysmal at Spanish, so figured that a completely different language might be a good route to take, which was the 1.5 credit class), and the required freshman writing course. She was going to get a degree in Astronomy in hopes of using it to qualify for being an astronaut—they needed astronomers, right?—and that was her passion, so...

The day passed in a flurry of activity, and soon enough she found herself sitting in her dorm room, chatting with Tucker and Sam via Skype. It seemed their days had been little different from hers, and she closed the conversation when her roommate requested, since she was an early-to-bed, early-to-rise person, which was completely different from Danny, but Danny could be discrete and saw in the dark very well.

She turned the lights off and sat in her chair until she heard her roommate's breathing even out into sleep. She smiled faintly before phasing intangible and invisible, slipping out of the building and onto the roof of the dorm, transforming into her ghost form, then fading back into invisibility and intangibility to explore the campus for any ghosts.


	87. 82809: Small

**Author**: Just a warning--since we've moved on to non-Amity Park, there will inherently be a ton of OCs. You must tell me if things are getting ridiculous, though. Thanks.

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**176 Small**

Danny felt very small as she watched the non-frosh move in. Everyone...everyone was an _adult_ but she. It made her insides squirm and she cursed her ghost powers for stunting her growth. Maybe then people would stop asking her if she needed help finding her parents/older brother/older sister. Maybe then people would stop assuming she was a child prodigy. Maybe then she'd get some _respect_.

As of the moment, though, it royally sucked to be her. She was glad she was attending a large school, though—she could get (hopefully) get lost in the crowd.

But that's what she'd been trying to do her entire life, and it didn't seem to have ever worked once she hit high school. Actually, perhaps even before then—having parents like hers wasn't conducive to remaining anonymous.

But now, everything that she hadn't _really_ minded before—her lack of height and chest, how her voice sounded boyish instead of feminine, how she was still capable of shopping in the _kids'_ section...it grated on her. She found herself _wishing_ for the hormone therapy to work faster, but perhaps it was best if it didn't. Then she'd be adapting to new bodily happenings as well as a complete change of scenery and lifestyle.

Danny shook herself mentally as she sat awkwardly among a group of frosh, each of them seeming so much more _mature_ than her...even if it was only physically.


	88. 82909: Breakfast

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**218 Breakfast**

Breakfast was a sedate affair on Saturday morning, especially since Danny had a bad habit of not sleeping nearly enough, so she was one of the first people at the dining hall.

She figured out very quickly why people tended to order out or make their own food. It was _terrible_, but there was nothing Danny could do about it—afterall, cooking for the obscenely large amount of people that attended the University was sure to bring down the quality of the food. Danny vowed to find a job on campus so that she didn't have to eat the dining hall food every day—she needed the money anyway. It wasn't as if her family was rich.

Danny picked at her bagel, tearing it to small shreds. She didn't think she'd miss home this much. That her thoughts were preoccupied with Vlad was another downside. She shook herself inwardly and frowned. She'd fought ghosts, survived her darkest self and high school, kept herself from being torn to bits by Val...what was this compared to all that?

Danny sighed inwardly and finished eating her bagel before standing. She hadn't bothered to get a tray because, well, it was _just_ a bagel. No need to waste water on a plate that wasn't dirty. She left the dining hall and exited into the campus proper, looking at it once she was off the pathway.

Suddenly, a deep calm descended on her, and she took in the campus with strangely dispassionate eyes.

This was a turning point in her life. What she decided to do from here was all under her own power. She didn't have family or friends or anyone telling her what she should do. Now, her destiny was in _her_ hands.

She smiled slowly, thinnly, and stepped back on the sidewalk, going to memorize where her classes were so she could teleport to them and save herself walking.

–


	89. 83009: Lie Awake

**Disclaimer**: nope

**299 Lie Awake**

Danny found herself lying awake in her bed, her roommate fast asleep. She was _incredibly_ nervous about the beginning of classes. Sure, in all likelihood no-one would pay _any_ attention to her whatsoever—who was she but another face in the crowd?—but she always got first-day jitters, even when she was in high school and _knew_ everyone.

Then again, she _was_ more paranoid than most, since she had the whole half-ghost thing going. She had scoured the campus and surrounding town for any malignant ghosts and found just a few baffled neutral ones (including one in the campus undergraduate chemistry lab—it wasn't just the fumes that made people nervous to be in there alone). It was a _relief_, but that didn't mean that her old enemies wouldn't find their way to her eventually.

Her luck just ran that way.

She rolled over in her bed and sighed, curling in slightly on herself, pulling the blanket she was lying on top of towards her, her hand fisting in it. She had nothing to worry about. All of her classes were enormous. She'd be _fine._

_Yeah, right._

Danny sighed softly and firmly closed her eyes. It wouldn't do good to be dead (ha!) on her first day of classes.


	90. 83109: Beginning

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**278 Beginning**

Her first day of her first year of college actually wasn't all that bad.

She had three classes on Monday—Japanese, Physics, and Calculus—and Physics and Calculus were actually in the same room and right after each other, so she didn't even have to _move_. All of her classes jumped right into their subjects. Danny was taught the first half of one of _three_ alphabets for her Japanese class. They looked like pretty squiggles to Danny, but she figured that eventually they'd come to mean something to her. Then she went to Calculus and immediately was introduced to concepts that left her staring at the board blankly.

_Why did I decide that getting an Astronomy major was a _good_ thing?_ She thought mournfully.

Then she attended her Intro Physics (for physics/astro/engineering majors) and found it _much_ more interesting. The teacher—professor—told them that they'd be jumping around in the subject matter, so they would be unable to take _this_ Physics one semester and then take the one for non-physics majors the next, since the other class took the text linearly, starting at chapter one and ending at the final chapter.

And then they promptly began to learn about elementary particle physics.

All in all, it was a good beginning. Even if the classes were absolutely _enormous,_ Danny didn't mind. It seemed as if attending school might actually be _fun._

However, the homework promised to be absolutely brutal.


	91. 90109: Separation

Author: So. about that writing one piece every day for a year. _

I failed. But, I was re-reading it and fem!Danny pounced on me and convinced me to start writing her again. So...the dates are from last year. But that's details, yes? I'm continuing it and that's what matters. My writing...has probably deteriorated slightly. Unless you use something, you lose it. And as I've been away from this for a while (Bad WoW! BAD WoW! LEAVE ME ALONE... ;_;), it most likely gone downhill. So, yes. We're starting up again because it's the first day of classes tomorrow and I should totally be staying up late writing this.

Thanks for reading the long note. 3

**26 Separation 9/1/09**

The separation from her parents and friends actually wasn't that hard to bear, thank to the marvel of modern technology. Due to Skype, Danny found herself chatting face-to-face with her best friend later in the evening.

"Hey! How's life?" she asked Tucker as she pushed aside the homework that was already threatening to overwhelm her, favoring talking to her friend over taking derivatives.

"Not that bad," Tucker replied, idly twirling her cap around her finger. "It's just that I'm _suffocating_ under the testosterone."

"It's your fault, since _you_ chose the college," Danny pointed out.

"They weren't kidding about the skewed ratio, _that's_ for sure!" Tucker harrumphed.

Danny laughed. "Do you have any roommates? How many? What are they like?"

"Geeze, girl, slow down!"

Danny smiled sheepishly.

"I'm in a triple and it's a _dungeon_. Never go here for the rooms. My roommates are nice enough—I mean, we never really see or speak to each other since we're all, well, attached to our computers and electronics. I swear, one day, when we finally manage to figure out how to make ourselves androids, we three will _totally_ be the first in line."

Danny snickered. "I don't think I could do it-don't know how well technology would go with ghost."

"Well, there _is_ ghost-technology..."

"But not the kind you're talking about."

"Aren't your parents try to make that thingy that replicates you kinda...?"

"Yeah, but they're tearing their hair out in frustration over it. It just doesn't _work_. Guess you need to be half-ghost, huh?"

Danny felt fine talking about her secret, as her roommate was currently out and wasn't expected back any time in the near future, and, judging from the noise levels around her, no-one in the other rooms or in the hall would be able to eavesdrop.

"I guess."

"So...you met your roommates, how are classes? Meet anyone there?"

"Well, there _is_ this cute guy in my math class..."

"Tucker! Tsk, tsk," Danny laughingly reprimanded. "Already on the prowl and you've barely begun your college experience!"

Tucker laughed as well. "Hey, how you doing without your sugar momma?"

"_What?_"

Tucker snickered as Danny pouted and crossed her arms. "Vlad _totally_ wasn't that."

"Dude, girl, she gave you expensive gifts. How does that _not_ qualify?"

Danny sighed. "We are _not_ having this argument."

"Hate to break it to you, but—"

"What's the guy's name?"

Tucker grinned and allowed herself to be sidetracked, Danny pushing the pang of longing she felt at the mention of Vlad far into the recesses of her consciousness—it was best not to think of her, 'lest she start actually _missing_ the bitch...


	92. 90209: Pineapple

**Author**: herpderp, Ryuuko, if you want to get anyone to read this you have to post it earlier. Not 10.50 at night. ANYWAY. Yay! A relatively on-time update! Again, I'm still flexing my writing muscles, so things will probably suck for a while. Thanks for reading anyway. :3

**Disclaimer**: I wish. Oh, I _so_ wish. Can you imagine the mind-f*ckery that would have ensued if this happened in the series?

**47 Pineapple 9/2/09**

Danny was surprised to find that the dining hall actually supplied pineapple as a fruit choice during breakfast. She took a few slices and put them on a small plate, they poking slightly off the edge of the dish, considering that they were sharing space with a cream cheese-d plain bagel (she figured that the dining hall couldn't _possibly_ get bagels wrong). She found a spot amongst the tables to sit, and was content to eat her breakfast in companionable groggy silence with the rest of the students who had dragged themselves awake to get breakfast.

She chewed thoughtlessly on the tangy-sweet fruit, mind blank and wandering on the last vestiges of sleep. The day she had before her was her heavy day, three classes in one day. She still wasn't sure how her year would progress, considering it was only, what, the third day of classes? She supposed she still had to suspend judgement on the whole thing.

As she picked at her bagel, she found herself inexplicably missing her _brother_ of all people.

_Then again, he and I tended to eat breakfast together when we were both home. Makes sense that I would feel weird without Jazz and his equally surly morning attitude. We never said anything, but..._

Danny smiled faintly, then lightly slapped her cheeks in an attempt to get herself to wake up a little more.

_Bet he doesn't feel this way. Missing little things. Probably busy with classes and clubs and stuff _already, Danny thought sullenly_._

She finished her bagel and stood, slinging her bookbag onto her shoulder before taking the dish over to the dishwashing turnstile, putting it on an empty silver slab.

She gave a jaw-cracking yawn and scratched her head vigorously as she exited onto the campus, grudgingly ready to take on the new day.


	93. 90309: Bitter

**Author**: Another update at an ungodly time of night. well, it's a daily update, yes? And that is a good thing, no? Aaaand I'm gonna shut up. Thank you who review, favorite, alert, and just _read_. It's endlessly flattering.

**Disclaimer**: The creators would probably be horrified at what I'm doing to the characters.

**260 Bitter 9/3/09**

The sweat that dripped down her face tasted salty and bitter when it slipped between her lips, and she shook her head to try and remove some of it that threatened to get into her eyes. She gradually slowed from a sprint to a trot, then a brisk walk, then a normal walking speed. It wasn't often that she forced exercise onto herself, but there were times it was needed.

Such as now.

She took long, deep breaths, her muscles protesting at her for the brutal treatment they had been subjected to. She swallowed, trying to work moisture back into her mouth, which was dry from her heavy breathing. Her steps slowed to a stop, and her shoulders slumped in defeat and exhaustion. The exercise hadn't gotten rid of _all_ the nervous energy, but it came close.

She really, _really_ wished that the Box Ghost would just magically appear so she could beat him into near-oblivion, but was also kind of glad that _wasn't_ an option. It meant she would have to watch out for collateral damage and people asking questions she didn't want to answer.

Her control had nearly slipped, and in front of people she _didn't even know_. She didn't want to get pegged with any sort of weird or demeaning label—because people _did_ label, whether or not they admitted it—for the rest of her college career.

_I've been touchy of late, though. Get pissy more easily._

Danny sighed gustily and ran a hand through sweat-soaked hair, grimacing at her hand when it came away damp.

She meandered away from the track ring around the football field, using the bottom of her shirt to wipe her face.

_Not like there's much to look at,_ she thought, slightly sour.

She walked back to her dorm, not wanting to go ghost—it might pull her darker self closer to the surface, and she was trying to assuage that part of her self.

_It was about something stupid, too,_ she thought, frowning slightly. _What was it that did that?_ She blinked when the topic surfaced in her mind and she smiled ruefully.

_Ghosts. Of course._

She now found the situation humorous, but when she had been _in_ it, she had become quite annoyed at how people dismissed what she knew to be _truth._ It had been a heated argument, Danny desperately wanting to show them first-hand that, yes, ghosts exist, but knew that she _couldn't._

_Still, bet I'm going to be known as the crazy ghost-girl soon enough._ She sighed. _Can't escape what I live, apparently._

She climbed up the stairs to the third floor where her room was located and unlocked the door, stepping inside.

"Hey," Jewel said cheerfully from her perch on the uncomfortable wooden chair, she having been reading something on her computer.

"Hey," Danny responded with a small smile. Jewel's positive outlook on most things was infectious to Danny—she could never feel bitchy when her roommate was around.

_Guess I'm lucky,_ she thought.

"Thought you didn't like exercise," Jewel teased, and Danny rolled her eyes.

"Hey, sometimes it's necessary."

Jewel nodded solemnly in sage agreement, a smile of understanding on her face.

Danny picked out a towel, some underwear, and new clothes, bundling them all up in a ball and tucking it under her arm prior to picking up her shower supplies. "You gonna be around tonite?" Danny asked.

"Yup. Got my first bit of Anthro homework. Lots and _lots_ of reading."

Danny gave her a lop-sided smile. "Glad my only reading is in that writing seminar."

Jewel wrinkled her nose at the mention of the class, which they shared. "That is going to be..._interesting._"

"You say interesting like it's a synonym to 'horrible.'"

"Did you _see_ our reading list?"

"Actually," Danny said, blushing, "no."

Jewel's eyebrows shot up. "Well, then. I'll show you. After your shower."

"Yeah, after my shower," Danny mumbled in agreement before turning, walking out the door, closing it behind her, and heading to get her sweat-sticky body clean.


	94. 90409: Language

**Author**: It's surprisingly hard to find a groove again. Danny's starting to talk to me, though, which is nice. It's still not incredibly easy to write these, like it should be. Alas.

**Disclaimer**: The show would have had a _very_ different flavor and tone to it if this was what it was really like.

**230 Language 9/04/09**

"How did anyone ever _come_ _up_ with this language?" Danny groused, her left hand's fingers tangled in her hair as her right irritably tapped the pencil she was holding on the paper before her.

Sean, one of the people who sat next to her, looked at her with empathy, he obviously having the same struggle. "They're just..." he trailed off, trying to find a good adjective.

"Squiggles!" Danny harrumphed.

Sean nodded in morose agreement.

They, as well as a small group of others (two of whom were 'Shawn' and 'Shaun', which was already giving Danny a headache), had clumped together, all of them doing it for more than just the grade, but out of one interest or another (one named Finn confessed that he got into Japanese only due to anime).

"What's giving you trouble?" Finn asked, sliding into the seat on the other side of Danny, having caught a little of the conversation.

"It's...just..." Danny sighed.

"Well, think of them as pictures with sounds and meaning attached to them. See this one? My teacher in high school said, "ah, ah, there's a snake around me! See? There's something like the beginnings of a stick figure with a loop around it—the snake."

Danny tilted her head to the side and squinted. "I...guess?"

"Hrm, an easier one..."

The other two Shawn-s appeared, as did a very quiet young man who also looked like he hadn't hit puberty named Kevin (she was glad to have some sort of weird camaraderie with the young man), who was slowly being absorbed into their group. Even though it was only the end of the first week, people had already begun to gravitate towards each other, which Danny found amusing and a relief. Admittedly, Japanese really was the only classes where people could _do_ that—big lectures weren't good places to meet people.

So, while the language was frustrating, at least she was _meeting_ people.

The professor walked in with a "Ohayou," which was repeated in a smattering.

After that, the lesson began, new squiggles being put on the board that Danny was supposed to learn.

She sighed softly and began to take notes.


	95. 90509: Blush

**Author**: Martel, ilu. :3 you let me know people actually read my stuff. Thank you to all those who review, favorite, alert, or just READ! It gives me warm fuzzies, knowing that people read what I write.

Vlad is beginning to talk to me, too, so she makes an appearance. A short one, but one nonetheless.

**Disclaimer**: What I wouldn't give if there was an episode that had Vlad as a sexy business woman in a vested suit.

**122 Blush 9/5/09**

Danny _knew_ that her face was continually tinged with a blush as she hesitantly went through the clothing before her. Vlad turned away from the rack she had been looking through and gave Danny an arched eyebrow in amused incredulity.

"Come, girl. Surely you've done this before."

Danny looked at the bras Vlad handed her and shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "Always was lookin' for Tuck, not _me_..."

Vlad's eyebrows started to rise to her hairline before she paused and sighed. "Well, now it's _you_ we're shopping for. While _I_ don't mind you walking around without a bra, society dictates certain things, and I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy the increased masculine attention."

Vlad's eyes briefly narrowed, making Danny lips twitch in a smile, she knowing the meaning behind the look.

"Still..." Danny trailed off.

Vlad shook her head in bemusement.

Danny had gone to Vlad's mansion for her weekly hormone therapy and check up, expecting to return to college before too much time had passed. She _really_ liked being with Vlad—for more than a few reasons—but she had to make _sure_ that she could focus on schoolwork even after seeing the billionaire.

Instead, after her check-up was over and she was pulling on her shirt, Vlad had stopped her, holding her arms up as they were in the process of pulling her shirt over her head. It was an awkward, unpleasant situation, made only more so when Vlad let go of one of her forearms to grope her.

Which led to the current situation, Danny going bra shopping for herself.

Danny looked at the clothing in her arms and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

_Suppose this is one of those 'growing-up' things that I missed out on when I was _supposed_ to go through them._

"Stop sulking and get to the changing room to try them on."

With a resigned sigh, she followed Vlad to the changing room in Victoria's Secret, her face still warm with a blush.


	96. 90609: Neighbors

**Author:** Look, an update at a reasonable time! :D Only because I'm avoiding homework by doing this... -_-b

**Disclaimer**: I have written 11 pieces of Danny Phantom fanfiction. I am no closer to owning it than when i started.

**22 Neighbors 9/6/09**

Danny was _not_ happy with her next-room neighbors. From what she could tell, Jewels wasn't particularly thrilled either.

"When do you think they stopped?" Danny asked her roommate as they slowly wandered over to the dining hall for breakfast.

Jewel scowled. "Not soon enough."

Danny nodded in morose agreement. "I mean, there's no reason they had to be so _loud_."

Jewel shrugged. "I guess we're getting an education in more than one thing."

Danny smiled wryly. "At least—"

"Don't jinx it!"

Danny blinked, then laughed. "Let's pray it's a one time thing."

"I concur."

With that, the topic was dropped, their conversation turning to more pleasant matters, like how the dining hall could screw up pancakes.


	97. 90709: Bad Day

**Author**: Why do I bother writing these? Another day, another chapter.

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**20 Bad day 9/7/09**

"Wow, looks like someone's had a bad day," Danny said, eyebrows coming together in concern over how annoyed and _tired_ Tucker appeared over the video connection.

"Now I know how _you_ felt in high school," Tucker growled and took off her beret, running a hand along braided cornrows.

Danny blinked. "You found a ghost portal and got zapped and now are dealing with ghost powers?"

Tucker laughed. "Ok, maybe not _that_ bad."

Danny relaxed marginally, still heavily concerned. "Then what? Do you need me to get over there? It's a little far, but I can try to get as close as possible."

"No, no," Tucker said quickly, obviously wanting Danny to not take the suggestion to heart and actually try to do it. "It's just that a ghost followed me from Amity."

"What?" Danny asked rather incredulously. She had expected ghosts to pursue _her—_not Tuck.

"I know! That's what I thought too!" Tucker half-exclaimed, gesturing with her hat. "I tried to ignore it, hoping it'd go away, but it hasn't."

"Do you know who it is?"

"A good guess? Technus."

Danny was struggling not to smile. "Well, you _are_ at a technology-heavy school..."

"Yeah, but why follow _me?_ I mean, where you are has lots of shiny technology to play with as well!"

"Has she been destructive?" Danny asked seriously.

Tucker shook her head, the beads at the ends of her braids clacking slightly against each other. "No, she's just..."

"Annoying," Danny finished for her.

"Girl, you have a way with words," Tucker commented dryly.

Danny snickered. "What's she been doing, then?"  
"Honestly? I think she's just poking around."

"And you notice, but no-one else does?"

"They just think that the stuff is buggy, or that there's been a hacker who cracked the system."

Danny was far too amused. "In a way..."

"No-one would believe me if I said, 'Oh, by the way, the reason the stuff's been acting up is because the ghost of technology has possessed them.'"

Danny chuckled before asking, "Has she bothered _you_, though?"

Tucker paused and a thoughtful look crossed her face. "In...periphery ways? She tends to show up in my classes for a few minutes before moving on. Like she's checking in on me or something."

"Checking in on you," Danny repeated slowly.

"It's weird," Tucker said and rubbed the brim of her hat pensively.

"You sure you don't want me to come over there?"

"Maybe you can visit during the weekend if she doesn't back off?"

"Will do," Danny said seriously.

"Cool," Tucker said, obviously relieved in spite of herself.

Danny yawned and blinked, Tucker's laugh coming through the other side.

"Keep on forgetting about the time difference. Go to sleep."

"Mm-kay," Danny murmured. "Talk to you later, yes/yes?"

"Yes," Tucker said with a grin. "Sleep."

"'Night," Danny said, and signed off a Skype.

She looked up at the cloudy sky from her perch on the roof of her dorm, glad that wireless extended so far. She thought for a few minutes before she eventually sighed and went intangible and invisible, her laptop carried tightly against her body as she sunk down to her room.


	98. 90809: Sink

**Author**: So. Yeah. Back to stupid-late updates because I started exercising again. And maybe writing delicious, delicious crack. /shifty-eyes Go read it for me? pls?

**Disclaimer**: The copyright holders of Danny Phantom would be horrified regarding what I do to their intellectual property.

**191 Sink 9/8/09**

Danny wanted to do nothing more than sink into her seat, embarrassed. Sure, she was certain that no-one had noticed, as the class _was_ really big, but she still felt self-conscious. She hadn't lost control of her powers in quite some time, and that she _had_ sunk slightly into her chair when she was dozing was what was keeping her painfully awake now.

_Second week of college and you're _already_ worrying enough to lose control over your abilities. Then again, you've never _been_ around this many people before—obviously the stress is having an effect on you._

Danny sighed quietly and composed herself, doing her best to catch up from where she remembered the professor having left off.


	99. 90909: Silence

**Author**: Mmng...Sorry. I've started exercising again and classes are beginning to pick up. Whoo. -_-b

**Disclaimer: **Nope.

**336 Silence 9/9/10**

The lecture hall was silent, save for the scratching sound of pencil (or pen) on notebook paper. It was...odd...to Danny, since High School always had some kind of background activity going on, a low susurrus of whispers that fell just beneath annoyance and was instead a weird kind of comforting background noise.

Now, that noise was gone, although it had been replaced by many more lightly snoring students. Danny supposed that it _was_ a little more difficult to stay awake in a morning class in the middle of the week—everyone's energy was starting to lag, everyone struggling to see the light that should _just_ be peaking over the horizon.

But it was hard to see it when in a math class that left Danny's head spinning in an effort to comprehend the calculus thing. Sure, it made more sense than anything she had learned in high school, but it was still _hard work._ But, astronomy is applied physics, physics is applied math, so she had to learn math to do astronomy correctly.

_Doesn't mean I have to _like_ it, _she thought grumpily as she copied down the problem that was being done on the board. _Bet Sam and Tuck are having a better time at this than me._


	100. 91009: Song

**Author:** Second update.

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**290 Song 9/10/09**

Danny was amused to discover that the songs that were _really_ popular and well-played in her town were virtually unheard of in her new surroundings. No-one had heard of Ember, and if they had, they sneered at it, considering her an imitation pop phenomena.

Then again, all the stuff _they_ listened to was foreign to her. She supposed it was a trade-off in ignorance, although she was pretty sure that such wasn't a good thing.

_And here I thought that music was the universal language._


	101. 91109: Believe

**Author:** Third update.

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**259 Believe 9/11/09**

It was the end of her second week of college, and she _had_ to believe that things would turn out all right, that she was actually capable of doing this whole 'college' thing. Afterall, a ghost hadn't showed up to break her concentration—all she had to blame now was her own laziness and uncertainty. There were just so many tiny things that said "You're in over your head, girl. Give up now."

There were classes that met only a few times every week, had homework that was due at one day each week, and all this was expected for her to do _on her own_. The degree of freedom and responsibility she was given was terrifying.

The whole _culture_ was different than what she had experienced before.

First and foremost was the 'no ghosts' thing. Then, there were thousands of people swarming around her as they wandered different places on campus. She had no idea how anyone managed to get around without a car or flying capabilities (the second of which _most_ people wouldn't have anyway—Danny was _sometimes_ lucky).

The second was the range of people itself. There were students her age, 18, to grad students, who, during their last year at graduate school, were 27-28ish. Although there _were_ 'special' students, those who were atypical matriculation ages, but Danny didn't count them in quite the same way. She'd have to account for everyone who was taking online courses, too, then, and that didn't seem...right?

The way of living was also different. People lived in dorms, houses, apartments...whatever was easiest for them to afford. There were people on scholarships (like Danny, who had barely managed to get one because of her..._strange_ financial situation), and those who had money to spare, and therefore the attitudes that went along with such monetary situations. It was bewildering to Danny, who had lived in a technically 'poor' house—the only way they survived was on the stuff her family created—but had also worked for Vlad, who was in the highest tax bracket possible.

Danny was no stranger to obsessions over sports, but it seemed to be taken to a whole new level where she was now. Danny gained an inkling over why Vlad was so obsessed with the Packers if she came from a school like the one she was currently attending.

Danny sighed as she sat on the roof of her dorm and settled down to wait for Tucker to call. She needed to know if she was to go to California to help her best friend with a potential ghost problem.

As she was gazing absently at nothing, her computer made the 'you have a skype call' sound.

"Hey," Danny greeted a rather amused-frazzled looking Tucker.

"Hey," Tucker responded, mild exasperation in her voice.

"Want me to come over and make Technus go away?"

Tucker sighed and scratched her head. "She's not doing anything _bad_ she's just..." Tucker gestured vaguely.

"Distracting," Danny supplied, and Tucker nodded.

"It's weird, being casually watched."

"Well, I'll be over there tomorrow. Yay for not needing sleep much, yes?"

Tucker chuckled slightly. "Now, let's get to talkin' 'bout other things, hm?"

"Sure," Danny replied with a smile, happy to be guided down a different path.


	102. 91209: Hips

**Author**: Aasdknguba D: Homework and lab grading is picking up, so I will do my damndest to get everything up on time (hells, I probably will, considering writing is stress relief), so...erm...yeah. -_-b

**Disclaimer**: Not mine. Alas.

**160 Hips 9/12**

Danny floated in front of Technus, hands planted on her hips, frowning at the ghost.

"Go away."

"The Great Technus isn't Doing Anything!" Technus protested with a surly pout.

"You're stalking Tucker."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Tucker can tell you're watching her. Frequently. Just because you aren't _doing_ anything physical doesn't mean that you're free to do whatever you want."

Technus scowled at the floor, caught in some eco-webbing Danny had...acquired. "_Someone_ needs to keep an eye on her," the ghost muttered.

Danny's eyebrows raised slightly. "She and I are in contact almost every day and we _do_ have cell phones."

"But..." Technus seemed to struggle with herself.

"But?"

"You're not _here,"_ Technus said heatedly.

Danny's eyebrow quirked. "Yeah. I know. Tuck's a big girl, though—she can take care of herself. Think of it this way: if you're around, she's distracted, and if she's distracted, she won't be paying attention to what else is going on."

Danny couldn't believe she was _talking_ a ghost down from being a nuisance. Usually she would just kick its ass and toss it into the Ghost Zone, but since Technus _was_ technically just being annoying...well, she figured that the situation deserved a different approach.

Technus seemed to waver.

"Why are you interested in her anyway?" Danny asked, curious.

Technus remained silent and glared at Danny defiantly. Well, Danny _thought_ the ghost was glaring at her—it wasn't as if she could see behind those dark glasses.

Danny sighed. _Ghosts are weird. I'm _never_ going to understand them, even though I am partly one._

Danny paused and tilted her head, eyes narrowing slightly. "Did you change how you look?"

Technus, again, refused to answer.

Danny sighed in frustration. There _was_ something different about the ghost's appearance—she just couldn't put her finger on it.

But that was beside the point.

"Look, Technus," Danny floated closer until she and the ghost were a hands-breadth apart. "You're going to leave Tucker alone," Danny said, voice dropping to a dangerous croon. "If I hear from her that you're bothering her again..." Danny's lips pulled back in a vicious smile. "I'll make sure that you'll never be able to bother her again. _Permanently._"

Technus' body seized, the ghost obviously torn between a number of emotions, only one which was fright.

Danny drew back and paused in thought. "Maybe I'll just get rid of you no—"

"I'll leave her alone! I promise!" Technus said hurriedly.

"Promises are nothing to ghosts," Danny said in a purr and energy began to gather around her fist.

Technus looked genuinely terrified. "I'll leave her alone! _I'll leave her alone!_ By everything that I am, _I won't bother her!_"

Danny regarded Technus for a long moment before letting the energy fade from her around her hand, and with a snap of her fingers Technus was released from her ectoplasmic prison.

"I am holding you to your promise," she told the relieved ghost in a soft, dangerous voice.

Technus nodded hurriedly and vanished, leaving nothing but a ripple of reality that solidified after she had left.

Danny sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Bet she'll find a loop-hole in there somewhere," Danny muttered before going invisible herself and going to surprise her friend with her presence and the news that Technus wouldn't be bothering her anytime soon.


	103. 91309: Pants

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**224 Pants 9/13**

It seemed like now that she wasn't home all the changes that should have taken place years ago were accelerating.

Maybe it was the stress and the accompanying adrenaline?

In any event, her pants had become increasingly short and a little tight around her hips, making her scowl.

This, of course, amused Tucker (and, naturally, Vlad) to no end.

"You're gonna have to go clothes shopping every month," Tucker teased as Danny pulled on her clothes.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh at my misery. You know I don't have money."

"You definitely have to have stuff left from your Christmas check."

Danny paused, then sighed. "You're right. I do. But...I don't know what to _wear!_ I've...never really had to go clothes shopping."

"True that. You wore the same clothes all through high school."

Danny briefly scowled, then ran a hand through her hair in nervousness. "Look, Tuck—"

"No worries, girl friend. You and I can go shopping. How about today?"

"Today! But...homework..."

Tucker sighed dramatically. "I forget not everyone is a genius like me."

That earned her a playful shove from Danny, the half-ghost smiling in spite of herself. "Maybe next Saturday?"

"Sure, sure. How 'bout we go shopping at your place,? It _has_ to be cheaper than around here."

Danny's lips quirked in a smirk. "True, true."

"Alright. Next Saturday, you'll pick me up?"

"I'll swing by Friday once your classes are done and we'll get to my place Friday evening."

Tucker blinked. "You can travel that fast now?"

Danny grinned. "I'm just that cool."

Tucker shook her head in chagrin. "Now, shoo. You said you had homework to do?"

Danny nodded, then hugged Tucker before looking around and changing into her ghost form. "See you next weekend?"

"It's a date," Tucker said, obviously amused.

Danny waved and winked out of existence, coming to a rest in Las Vegas, hovering above the brilliant lights and unending activity.

_Still have a series of jumps left. Here to Denver. Will need to take an hour or two rest once there. Then a jump to Lincoln, Nebraska. Another two hours rest there. Lincoln to Des Moines, Des Moines to Madison. Will probably need a nap, then can get to work on homework._

She looked down at her already-developed ghost form and sighed. _At least this came with the suit to my size. In a way, it's a relief to not bother hiding my ghost form anymore. _She paused, then conceded, _Alright, I'm still hiding it around my friends. But it's certainly less of an energy drain to just have to hide then._

With that thought, she steeled herself and focused on the building in Denver that she had chosen as her landing-point, vanishing into the morning again.


	104. 91409: Temperature

**author**: /headdesk Um...my writing quality flails due to me being retarded about grading labs. /sigh Ryuuko, when _ever_ will you learn that procrastination screws you over _every time_?

**183 Temperature 9/14/09**

As they inched farther into September, the weather began to cool—slightly. More often than not, the temperature drove people to stay in air conditioned places, but every now and then there was a day that was cool enough (well, relatively cool—at any other time under any other circumstances, it would be considered hot) to walk outside and not sweat buckets.

It was not one of those days.

Danny was, again, happy with her internal cooling system and ability to teleport places. It made the need to walk across campus obsolete—unless she was with people that she had tentatively made friends with, whereupon she _had_ to walk. Because, while they seemed like good people, she didn't want anyone she didn't _want_ to know finding out about her ghost powers.

Primarily because she didn't know how famous she was around here. Sure, that one time she had been nationally famous, but things were blown out of proportion due to Humpty Dumpty being there. But, as _that_ particular fiasco was erased...well.

She was getting the feeling, however, the the group of people she was associating with wouldn't tell anyone—they would simply enthuse amongst themselves, reveling in the secret.

_The question really is: would they tell anyone else?_

It didn't matter, though, since no-one seemed intent on asking about why Danny never broke a sweat in record heat or magically appeared _just_ in time for class. They just grumbled about it and snarked at her, to which she returned the favor.

_Perhaps this whole college thing won't be _too_ terrible..._


	105. 91509: Soda

**Author**: I'm starting to date things in '09 because of this. Damn me for being lazy!

In other news, I'm actually getting my Thursday labs done now. :D Although I _am_ ignoring the "classical mechanics" homework.

**334 Soda 9/15/09**

Danny coughed as she breathed in some of her soda from laughing, and Finn ineffectually tried to help her by hitting her back.

"Why do people do that _anyway?_" Danny asked as she shooed away his hand.

Sean smirked slyly. "Oh, I bet there's no reason..."

"Probably some kind of psychological mechanism—they've seen other people do it, so they do it, too," Shawn offered.

"Well, it's how you try to help a conscious choking victim stop choking—I know that much," Finn supplied.

Kevin simply shrugged.

_Doesn't talk much, but when he does say something, you end up doing a double take—more over _what_ he said that he spoke,_ Danny thought, amused, as her eyes briefly rested on the young man.

"You should know better to drink and laugh at the same time, though," Finn said seriously, catching Danny's attention. "Not good for your health."

Danny couldn't help but smile. "I could think of worse things."

"Don't tempt the powers of Worse!" Jewel said with a dramatic swooning gesture, joining their group.

Danny snickered, and, with her arrival, the topic of conversation changed from Danny's inability to breathe and drink at the same time to other matters.


	106. 91609: Moon

**Author**: CURSE YOU MATHEMATICA! CURSE YOOOU! D: Is it _really_ that hard to solve a differential equation?

**Disclaimer**: If I owned DP, I wouldn't have to worry about college and graduate school debt.

**362 moon 9/16/09**

The moon was perhaps the easiest celestial object to observe, aside from the sun. It was suspended in the night sky, its phases shifting with its revolution around the earth, stuck in tidal orbit with the home planet of the human race, the same face always showing. The rock on it was actually very dark, but the human eye had adapted to add the sum of the reflected light so that it looked white. It displayed a thousand little details that helped humanity discover that they aren't the center of the universe.

_Well, the _planet_ at least,_ Danny though wryly as she sat on the roof of her dorm and looked up at the lunar face.

Oddly enough, Danny hadn't been terribly fond of it before college. Its mystique had faded very quickly for her, probably because of it always _being there_. But, with her life being turned upside down by becoming a half-ghost, Vlad, and college, it was strangely comforting to have the familiar stellar body passing overhead.

Constant, yet changing.

Danny was content to ignore her homework and simply look blankly at the white orb hanging above her, focusing on it and nothing, letting her mind wander in the stars.


	107. 91709: Sheets

**Author**: /grumble

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**118 Sheets 9/17/09**

Danny frantically shuffled through all the sheets of paper she had accumulated in just the few _days_ of being in college, looking for the Japanese homework she _knew_ she had done.

_It has to be in here somewhere,_ she thought, pulse racing. A thought brought her desperate searching to a halt for a second before she snorted quietly at herself and continued to tear apart her backpack. _Yeah, I might not have cared about homework in high school, but that was _high school. _This is...different. I'll feel like I've let people down if I flunk out of college._

She blinked and a wry smile passed across her face as she managed to pull out the very crinkled but nonetheless legible piece of homework that had been scrunched at the bottom of her backpack.

_Maybe I should invest in folders._


	108. 91809: Decoration

**Author**: Mathematica, you and I need to have a talk.

In other news, the reason why Vlad hasn't made an appearance is because she refuses to talk to me. Maybe I can coax her out when she and I aren't so busy with our lives.

**Disclaimer**: Seriously?

**81 Decoration 9/18/09**

"You know, you don't have much decoration on your side," Jewel observed, making Danny look away from her Calculus homework (she had promised herself that if she got her homework done that day that she would give herself the weekend off) and at her portion of the room.

"It is...rather empty," Danny conceded. _Not like I can decorate it with all my ghost stuff, though. Although Jewel might find that interested and entertaining. She's a little strange that way._

"Well, uh, I don't really mind what you put up. Just nothing x-rated."

It took Danny a moment to process before her face flushed in a heavy blush. "I-I wouldn't..."

While Danny was offended by Jewel's insinuation, she also distantly found it amusing. "It's just that...well..."

"What?"

Danny rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "My interests are...unorthodox."

"Danny, we're at _college_. If one the guys in one of the rooms on the floor below us can cover their entire room in Playboy pinups, I doubt many people will even blink at what you put up."

Danny couldn't help the smile that twitched onto her lips. "It's nothing that you _can_ really put up without getting in trouble with the higher-ups."

"Oh?"

Danny could see that Jewel's interest was growing the longer that she evaded the topic, so she figured she might tell the young woman. "Well...I like ghosts. But not the typical ones that everyone thinks about! The ghosts I've dealt with have...erm...much more personality."

"Wait, you've _dealt_ with ghosts? Like, interacted with them? _How_? You don't looking like a _Ghost Hunters_ type."

Danny scowled at the floor. "'Cause I'm not. Uh...have you heard of Amity Park?"

Jewel shook her head.

"Danny Phantom?"

Jewel tilted her head, a small, thoughtful look forming on her features. "I...think so? I thought she was just an internet phenomena. Y'know, video manip and actors and cheesy special effects."

Danny frowned, pride a little stung. "It's not fake. That's what actually _happens_ in Amity."

Jewel's eyebrows snapped up. "Oh, _right_. You're from Amity Park, yeah? And that's _really_ what happens?"

Danny nodded. "You can't live there and _not_ gain an interest in ghosts, if only for self-preservation."

"Wow..." Jewel trailed off, obviously trying to order questions in her head so that they didn't come out all in a jumble.

"So, I'm a little paranoid and brought some stuff with me. But since most people and the administration wouldn't appreciate me openly displaying weaponry—no matter how weird and not-harmful-to-humans it is...yeah."

Jewel nodded in agreement at the last statement before beginning with, "What's it like, living there? _How_ do you live there? Why don't _we_ get any of the kind of ghosts that you do, just the _Ghost Hunters_ type? Or is that they're there but we can't see them, that they stay invisible all the time? Are they malignant? Benevolent? Annoying?" The girl was almost bouncing as her curiosity got the better of her.

Danny couldn't help the smile that formed on her face. "Well, let's see..."


	109. 91909: Stop

**Author**: the majority of this was typed with my left hand only. So, while I think I've done a good job about catching mistakes, I apologize for any that slipped between the cracks.

**Disclaimer**: If I owned DP, I would have enough money to get other people type for me when I'm injured.

**68 Stop 9/19**

"Would you _stop_ laughing, Tuck?" Danny pouted, tugging at the waistband of the jeans she was trying on.

Tucker grinned at the half-ghost from her seat inside the dressing room. "It's just funny, seeing you be so puzzled."

"I've never done anything like this before and you know it."

Tucker rolled her eyes. "Understatement of the century. C'mon, we're only going to be getting you cheap, plain clothes until you finish this growth-spurt of yours."

Danny scowled. "It's _annoying._"

"Look at it this way: you'll get to wear all the pretty clothes I've seen you eye over the years."

Danny blushed. "Tucker_..._"

"Girl, it's alright to like pretty stuff. Maybe we can even find an outfit that'll knock Vlad's socks off."

"_Tuck!_" Danny half-exclaimed, blush deepening to crimson, which made Tucker snicker. "I...she...I didn't think you approved," Danny stammered.

"I don't. _But_, she makes you happy, makes you relax, makes you somehow...more alive. Makes you forget about saving the world. And _that_ I approve of."

"You're such a sap."  
"Comes from being friends with you."

"Hey!"

Tucker grinned. "Come on. I want to see how this shirt fits on your lovely developing bosom."


	110. 92009: Shame

**Author**: Writing Danny and Tucker is lots of fun :D Especially after you've given up pretending to do your classical mechanics homework.

**Disclaimer**: I laugh at anyone who thinks I own Danny Phantom.

**63 Shame 9/20/09**

Danny felt a lingering sense of shame whenever she interacted with Sam. She wasn't sure if Sam had any idea about _her_ reasons for breaking off their relationship—she certainly had no idea what Sam's were.

Somehow, that sense of shame was also wrapped within a kind of...smugness?...at being able to keep an illicit relationship (in more than one way) from someone who knew her as well as Sam did. It also made her muse over what exactly his reaction would be. When she broached the subject with Tucker, the girl had looked thoughtful for a moment before snorting.

"Who knows? He's a guy—they react in ways you _totally_ wouldn't expect. I mean, don't they fantasize about lesbians?"

Danny flushed slightly, never having attached that particular term to herself, which made Tucker snicker slightly. "Come, come. It's just a term."

"But..." Danny struggled to find words and eventually made a wordless sound that was parts exasperation, confusion, and embarrassment.

Tucker lightly patted Danny on the upper arm, obviously fighting a smirk.

"I...guess I am?" Danny struggled out. "I mean, I want _her_...but...it's just..."

"Maybe you're just Vlad-sexual?"

Danny scratched the back of her head in a nervous gesture. "Maybe? I mean, I've never really looked at another girl and said to myself, 'Damn, I'd tap that.' I've always...been interested in guys."

"Vlad-sexual," Tucker asserted. "Then again, you'd never hung out around middle-aged women who weren't your mom before—"

"Are you saying that I go for older women?" Danny hissed in indignant embarrassment.

"Just putting that out there..."

Danny scowled at a point in front of her. "You're just enjoying making fun of me because you're single."

"_Are_ you and Vlad an item?"

"I don't know! We _can't_ be..." Danny trailed off.

There was a short pause before Tucker sighed, "Damn that sucks. You have to keep so many things on the down-low: your genetics, your sexual preference, _who_ you want...girl, I am _so glad_ I don't have your life."

Danny rolled her eyes and stood, stretching and checking her energy reserves. "You ready for the jump to Denver?"

"Next time, you're flying normally, none of this teleportation crap."

Danny laughed and pulled Tucker to her in a loose embrace. "Just don't let go."


	111. 92109: Understanding

**Author**: bwahaha it reads japanese text :D

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**288 Understanding 9/21/09**

Danny sat perched on a rock in the Ghost Zone, her homework spread out before her. She found that she was able to focus better when in the Ghost Zone than in the mortal world.

Of course, there were just as many distractions, if not more, so she had found a good deterrent.

In the Ghost Zone, any number of ghosts existed—as many as people could dream up. One was a parasitic-like creature that fed off of ghostly energy. Danny had gotten very good at expending enough power to use them to create an opaque shield around her that would keep people from looking in on her and were a good persuasion to any other ghost seeking to disturb her.

"わたしのなまえはダニです。" Danny paused and cocked her head to the side. "ダニ？ダーニ？ダッニ？" Danny shook her head and sighed. "Whatever. What about my last name? フエントン？フェントン？" Danny shrugged. "That one works better. God, why can't things translate easy?" Danny knew she'd never have a _full_ understanding of Japanese, but languages were always easier when she was in her ghost form.

_Too bad I can't stay in it when in class. I'd seem so much smarter._

Danny placed her homework on the other piece of rock she had pulled in with her when she first set up and cupped her cheek in her hand.

There were many things she felt she'd never gain understanding of.

Danny called a small bit of ice energy to her—which didn't attract the Eaters, as it wasn't ghost energy—and formed it into a delicate crystalline lily. It floated slightly above her unoccupied palm before her hand closed violently about it, making it shatter and fall through her fingers as shimmering powder. She opened her hand, not a scratch on her blue-tinted skin.

_Haven't shown even _Vlad_ this form. I still kept the illusion up, mentioning that my form had changed but never actually demonstrating,_ she thought as she observed her bare hands, the nails subtly sharp, colored the color of blood.

She cloned herself and looked back at herself, removing her hand from her face to have it fall on her lap, pushing the Eaters away with a thought and flicker of will that sent them reeling.

_I knew it would change me, but I never guessed by how much._

Her hair flickered about her face in pale tendrils of fire, but her eyes were still a vibrant green, saying that she wasn't entirely corrupted. Her body, while not curvacious, still was pleasing to even Danny's untrained eye, and the body-suit that she had acquired only highlighted the subtly muscular, vicious femininity.

Danny dispelled the clone with a wave of her hand and looked at the homework sitting beside her. She would never understand why she had made the decision she did. She'd never entirely comprehend why it had changed her.

But, those things mattered little in comparison to the homework that looked at her accusingly, making her pull the rock over and place it in front of her, starting on it again.


	112. 92209: Laughter

**Author**: Yay for Differential Geometry homework being turned in. Boo for Math Methods. /facepalm

**Disclaimer**: "_I wanna be a billionaire, so fucking baaad..._"

**46 Laughter 9/22/09**

Danny hadn't _really_ laughed in a long time. Ever since she had acquired ghost powers, there hadn't been really any _reason_ to laugh—especially after she absorbed her darker self. But, now she found herself breaking into laughter more often, either when around Tucker or her newfound social circle. It was nice to relax a little, the break from constant ghost attacks a relief. It was a taste of normalcy that Danny was sure wouldn't last, and which she intended to enjoy to the fullest.

It was easier to laugh without her family, Sam, or Vlad near. She had to keep up a certain appearance around them, meet certain expectations, but since no-one in her university knew or _cared_ about what she had done at home, Danny was able to create...a different image. Was able to relax into who she had been before she had shouldered the responsibility of keeping Amity Park safe from ghostly threats.

According to her mom and dad, paranormal activity had dropped drastically once she had left, confirming a theory she had made—ghosts only attacked Amity because _she_ was there and the _Ghost Portal_ was nearby. With her gone, most the ghosts that meandered through the Ghost Portal weren't looking for a fight. If they _were_, her mom or dad or any number of people who had taken an interest in ghost-prevention took care of them before much trouble could be caused.

In the back of her mind, though, Danny was always waiting for everything to come crashing down around her ears, as her life always did.

_It's just a matter of who, when, and what,_ she thought at lunch, eyes unfocused on the pile of food before her.

Her pensive mood lasted only until someone waved their hand in front of Danny's face, causing Danny to start and look up at Finn, who was cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Would you _stop_ doing that?" Danny huffed, making Finn snicker.

"Then stop looking so doom-and-gloom."

"I _was not—_"

Finn grinned and sat down next to her, his own plate of what-passed-for-food rattling slightly as he put the tray on the table. "Well, I consider it my duty to cheer you up," he said haughtily, a smile pulling at his lips. "What can the Magnificently Awesome Finn do for you today?"

Danny lightly pushed him and muttered, "Magnificently awesome my ass."

"I've never thought of your ass that way before..."

"_Finn!_"

The young man grinned wickedly, and Danny couldn't help but smile in exasperation. "Boys are so weird."

"I could say the same for the fairer gender," Finn drawled in reply as he gestured idly with his fork.

Danny snorted, shook her head, and went back to poking at her food. She reluctantly realized that she _was_ feeling a little less like she had some sort of horror following in her footsteps that was simply waiting for the right time to pounce.

She'd deal with that when it came.

Right now, she had to deal with the annoyance that had settled down next to her and told her off-color jokes that made her blush before she laughed.


	113. 92309: Restraint

**Author**: Whoo grading.

**Disclaimer**: Hahahaha...

**221 restraint 9/23/09**

A large part—a _terrifyingly_ large part—wanted to revel in the power she commanded. It had always been a temptation, a siren call that whispered _It's yours you're special you're powerful why not show it?_

It took all of Danny's restraint to keep herself from openly glorying in the energy, lightness, and freedom that flooded her every time she went ghost. She had _seen_ what had happened when she had used her power—however covertly—to exact petty revenge, to give her a one-up on her peers, to be slightly different such that it made them nervous, but couldn't put their fingers on _how_ or _why_ they felt that way, and she was certain that she didn't want to become the monster she had accepted into her self.

Danny pressed a hand against her chest over where her heart would be if she were human and closed her eyes, blocking out the neon greens and purples of the Ghost Zone.

She knew that she looked different. As she had been around her friends while she was fighting ghosts, she had kept her change a secret. Now, though...she had decided it wasn't worth fighting the changes and the power boost that came with no longer diverting her energy to keep her a secret.

It made the temptation even harder to resist, but resist it she did. She _had_ developed _some_ restraint in her time as a half-ghost. She had _needed_ to.

She was now exercising it every day, and that was _without_ ghosts around. It would have been much, _much_ harder had she been facing ghosts on a daily basis.

However, something was stirring in the Ghost Zone. Something dark and powerful that hit a chord within her, calling like to like. It made her uneasy and fear not only for herself, but for those where she lived now and at her home town.

Whatever it was was merely stretching lazily, as if rising from a deep slumber only to fall back to sleep.

Danny hoped that it would never wake. College was enough to deal with—she didn't need some powerful being rising and causing havoc on her life.

She opened her eyes and turned, the arcing movement of her hand opening a portal into the human realm, she leaving the parallel world behind.


	114. 92409:Time

**Author**: Fffff I hate you, QM. So much.

**Disclaimer**: Would I be struggling through grad school if I owned DP?

**262 Time **9/24/09

Danny had a rather peculiar notion of time that probably resulted from being kinda-friends with the ghost of time. She swore that the being had fun messing with her head sometimes, since some events seemed to drag on forever (like a lecture that bored her to tears) or went far too fast (like time spent with Tucker or her friends). She didn't think that Clockwork would be so petty...but the ghost did have a tiny sadistic streak, which didn't _entirely_ rule out the possibility.

_Still, you'd think she'd have something better to do than to drive me nuts,_ Danny thought darkly as she glanced up at the clock again. There was no good reason for calculus to be running so long. Surely it ended, like, half and hour ago.

Danny looked at her notes, then the notes on the board, then at the clock again.

The half-ghost sighed and propped her head in one hand while the other alternated between taking notes and doodling.


	115. 92509: Circus

**Author**: Math methods, I hate you. On another note, I know that these thingies have been short, but that's because I have about 30 minutes in the morning to write them. Not exactly conducive for long chapters. And guys? 100-plus days? I mean, i started off with 90, but _still_...

**Disclaimer**: Alas.

**15 Circus **9/25/09

Danny half-panicked when she heard that a circus was coming to a nearby town. Her experience with Freakshow and that woman's particular stunts—with both the mind-control-orb-thing and the gauntlet—well, it made _sense_ that she was wound up at the prospect.

At least until she found out it was your mundane Barnum and Bailey circus with clowns and animal cruelty and the like. _Then_ she breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't have to deal with ghosts for a little bit longer.

"What, you afraid of clowns?" Sean teased.

Danny rolled her eyes as she tapped her pencil against the table. "Am not."

_Unless they are ghost-clowns. Which would be terrifying in so many different ways._

"Then why do you hate circuses so much?" Shawn asked.

Danny hesitated, then sighed. "One came to my town. Bad things ensued."

Sean's eyebrows snapped up. "Bad things? What did they do t—"

"You can stop there," Jewel said, finality in her tone, making Sean look at her sullenly. "If Danny doesn't like circuses, she doesn't like circuses."

Danny gave her roommate a small, thankful smile, which was returned with an understanding wink. "So, what're y'all's plans for the weekend?" Jewel prompted.

Danny leaned back in her seat and smiled, once again glad that she didn't have her ghost-hunting responsibilities.

For now, at least.


	116. 92609: Diapers

**Author**: Well, I wasted a day playing Chrono Cross and I have no regrets. Left all my homework at my office anyway...

**Disclaimer**: I'm pretty sure that DP wouldn't be as popular as it is if I owned it.

**152 Diapers 9/26/09**

Danny finally understood why Tucker called 'feminine hygiene products' 'glorified diapers'.

Danny sulked at her homework, wrapped in the blanket off of her bed, trying not to whimper at how it felt like her lower abdomen was trying to disassociate itself from the rest of her body.

Jewel threw a sympathetic look her way, which Danny returned with a shaky smile.

Jewel had been a lifesaver earlier in the day.

Danny had freaked out when she saw blood on her underwear and had checked herself for injuries all over, and when she found none was close to panicking.

Jewel had been baffled at why Danny was so worked up about her period, but when she pulled out of a very reluctant Danny that it was actually her _first_ period, the girl's tune had changed entirely.

If Jewel hadn't been around, Danny didn't think she would have survived most of the day. The girl had shared some of her pads before dragging Danny to the supermarket and explaining pads and tampons to her.

Danny had balked at tampons, which had Jewel give her a small, wry, understanding smile.

Her roommate has also plied her with chocolate and Motrin until Danny could at least _ignore_ the pain.

She still couldn't ignore the random spurts of stuff that came out of her girl-bits, leaving her feeling like she wet herself and making her squirm in discomfort.

"I got mine at 12," Jewel said with a small sigh. "So I've had time to get used to it. But this is your _first?_"

Danny nodded sullenly, fingers twirling a pencil between them. "Yeah."

Jewel reached out from her desk beside Danny's and gently patted the girl's shoulder. "It'll be alright. It might take a few times to get used to it, but eventually you'll consider it a _pain_, but not something to get worked up about."

Danny scowled, but allowed herself to be slightly comforted by the touch. "Still..."

"Hey, I never said it'd be _pleasant._ I just said you'd get used to it," Jewel said before pulling her hand back and giving Danny a small smile.

Danny sighed gustily and winced as warmth from another spurt of uterine lining trickled out of her to be absorbed by the not-diaper that lined her panties.

_This is going to _suck.


	117. 92709: Toilet

**Author**: So. That homework due yesterday? Yeah...

**Disclaimer**: I so, so wish.

**65 Toilet **9/27/09

No matter what Jewel said, Danny was pretty sure she'd never get used to seeing the water in the toilet be blood-red. It made her wince and have to shove down panic _every time._ Blood was bad, blood meant she was _hurt_. While she wasn't _technically_ hurt, it still hurt as much as any of the wounds she had received during her frequent battles.

"How long does this last again?" Danny asked from her cocoon of blankets (it hurt less when she was warm and stationary).

"Three to five days," Jewel replied, turning away from reading something on her computer. "And the second day's always the worst."

Danny shuddered. "I can tell."

Jewel smiled in understanding.

A comfortable silence fell between them again, only the scratch of pencil on paper and the soft clack of keyboard breaking it.

After a few minutes had passed, Jewel asked, "Hey, Danny."

"Yeah?"

"Do you have superpowers?"

Danny blinked and stammered, "N-no. Why do you ask?"

Jewel looked and sounded smug. "Because I'm talking to you while you're invisible."

Danny started and looked down at herself. _She_ could always see herself, so it took her a moment to find the tell-tale sign of invisibility. When she _did_ find it, she groaned and forced herself visible. "Um..." Danny began.

_I never lose control like this. What the hell is go—oh. I _think_ I remember Vlad telling me that it was hard to control her power during her period. Ah, shit._

"I...kinda?" Danny said, looking at her roommate.

There was a beat of silence before Jewel voiced a soft, enthusiastic squee. "This is _so cool_!" Jewel quietly exclaimed from her seat. "How'd you get them? Can you do anything else? What do you _do_ with superpowers?"

Danny found herself blushing at Jewel's barrage, but cut in, "Will you tell anyone?"

Jewel blinked and her flood of questions halted. She frowned and scoffed. "You have _superpowers._ Of _course_ I won't tell anyone. Duh. That's how things work, yes?"

Danny gave her a puzzled frown. "What?"

"Oh, come _on_. You _have_ to have read comic books or manga or watched cartoons and stuff. The plot line is _always_ 'through mishap kid gains superpowers. he/she tries to keep them a secret but fails once, and thereby gains a sidekick who vows to help them and keep their secret.' Seriously, Danny." There was a momentary pause before Jewel asked, "Can I be your sidekick? It'd be _awesome_."

"Hey, being a sidekick is serious business."

Jewel blinked. "You have one already?" she asked rather mournfully.

"She...she's in California, so yes but no?"

"Soooo can I be your sidekick _here_? A sidekick-in-training?"

Danny was having a hard time keeping a smile off her face. "I suppose."

"Eeee!" Jewel squeed again, bouncing up and down in her seat in excitement. "What do you do? What do _I_ do?"

"Well, right now I haven't had much to do. You'll probably notice if something comes up."

"Ooooh is that why you have that gear?"

Danny looked at the small stockpile hidden beneath her bed. "Yeah."

"Can you teach me how to use it?"

"Maybe later."

Jewel nodded. "Of course later. But you'll teach me?"

Danny rubbed the back of her neck. "Can't see why I shouldn't."

The smile that Jewel gave her was infectious, but a shiver wrecked the emotion, making Danny scowl. It wasn't a "oh look there's a ghost" shiver, it was just her body complaining and her ghost powers spiking before dwindling dormant again.

"Could you tell me if I ever become invisible again?"

"Sure," Jewel promised.

Danny looked back at her homework and her lips twitched at Jewel's quiet enthusing.

_Maybe having someone here who I can talk to about it won't be so bad. Better than having to keep it hush-hush _all_ the time._

Danny attempted to return her attention to her homework, but it was a little difficult when she was pulling herself up out of the bed on a semi-regular basis.


	118. 92809: Laundry

**Author**: Update number two.

**Disclaimer**: I think people would notice if I owned DP.

**4 Laundry **9/28/09

Danny liked doing laundry because it was mildly therapeutic.

She _didn't_ like how there was _always_ laundry to do.

And the cost. She _really_ hated how expensive it was to wash her clothes.

_Why does it have to cost so much just to use a machine?_ She whined inwardly. _And it doesn't even clean that well...then again, I _am_ used to the washing machine that my parents built...which is nothing like normal ones...soooo..._

Danny sighed and poured laundry detergent into the machine, closing the lid and leaning on the top of it, head cupped in her palm.

_And it takes so _long..._well, I guess that's what homework is for?_

Danny pushed away from the washer and picked up the bad that had been resting between her feet. She took out her Japanese homework and found a comfortable seat on the floor. There was _no_ way that anyone would be absconding with her clothes.

Not like she'd be able to wear them within the next week _anyway_. Her growth spurt was starting to slow down, but it was still ridiculous.

_Hope all this levels out soon. Then I can get back to, y'know, dealing with life without having to worry about my body so much._


	119. 92909: Midnight

**Author**: Update number three. There! All caught up.

**Disclaimer**: I am running out of witty disclaimers! Halp!

**145 Midnight **9/29/09

It was midnight, and Danny had yet convinced herself that she needed sleep. She had been lying in her bed for a good two hours, but all she ended up doing was turning restlessly and staring at the ceiling.

_C'mon, Danny. It's just a _test_. You've survived tests. A lot of them. Mentally _and_ physically. Your first college test can't be any worse._

Danny rolled over onto her stomach and pressed her face into her pillow.

_Somehow it _is_. I mean, sure, it's _just_ a test, but it's a test to see if I can do this whole college thing. I don't want to let anyone down—and sure as hell keep my grades up. I'm actually doing alright in my classes. The "no-ghost" thing really helps my schoolwork._

Danny pulled back and rolled onto her side, looked at the dim ambient glow of her laptop screen (a farewell yay-you-survived-till-college gift from her parents) and tried to calm herself down.

_Screw it. Go for a midnight fly and then come back and pass out. Flying always makes me relax._

With that decided, Danny snuck into her closet and transformed into her ghostly self (_finally_ able to exert control over her abilities again) and took off through the building, invisible and intangible, to break through into the dark, quiet night.


	120. 93009: Rain

**Author**: Vlad pushed Danny aside for this one and demanded to be written. I'm still not _entirely_ sure of her voice, but she and I are getting there.

**Disclaimer**: ahahahahaha

**87 Rain **9/30/09

It didn't rain much in Amity Park. Vlad was surprised that they hadn't had a drought or something of the like in any recent history, but nothing of the sort was ever recorded. She figured that it probably had something to do with the ghostly influence that permeated the town.

Today, however, it _was_ raining.

She sat behind her desk, working on the latest issue to be brought to her attention by the people of Amity Park (it was annoying, how trivial and banal people could be). She sighed and put down her pen, taking her hair out of her ponytail in order to run a well-manicured hand through the silver strands before gathering her hair once more and putting it back into a ponytail.

It was a nervous, bored gesture, and she knew it.

Nonetheless, there was very little to distract herself with these days.

Danny was off to college, and, from Vlad's subtle forays into her old school, doing fairly well. Danny was no genius, even without ghost hunting, but she was doing fine nonetheless. She had found friends and a place in the pecking order. It was balm to Vlad's worries.

Vlad lightly massaged her temples with her fingers. Something was _bothering_ her, though.

Danny was a ghostly _magnet_ and all the old ghosts that had gone after her on a regular basis seemed to have completely lost interest in the rarity that was Danny Phantom. It _was_ possible that those ghosts were tied to this area, and therefore _couldn't_ follow Danny, but Vlad found that a weak argument. The ghosts were too strong to be tied to _just_ Amity Park.

Vlad knew about Danny's savagery when fighting ghosts and how that might be a deterrent to ghostly molestation, but believed that ghosts weren't particularly concerned with their self-preservation.

It was very, _very_ hard to kill a ghost. Ghosts were already dead, afterall.

Vlad pushed away from her desk and stood, walking over to one of the windows in her office, watching the rain drench the parched land. Something was _wrong_ and Vlad couldn't put her finger on it and that, more than anything else, was driving her insane.


	121. 100109: Movies

**Author**: It's tough, writing in October when it's still September. Not to mention being a year behind. _

**Disclaimer**: /sigh

**83 Movies **10/1/09

"So, what kind of movies do you like?" Shawn asked, attempting to start conversation in the sleepy breakfast silence.

Danny blinked blearily, then answered, "Bad B-movies. Slasher-movies. Horror. Creepy stuff. Things like that."

Finn raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't have pined you for a horror movie person."

"Bet you couldn't pin me in the first place."

"Is that an insult to my masculinity?"

Jewel snickered. "What about you, Shawn?"

"Hmm..."

The conversation slowly dragged people to some semblance of wakefulness, as it made them _think_.

Danny still wasn't sure that she'd manage to remain awake through all of Japanese class, which was a bad thing. She needed to pay attention in that class—languages were only easy in her ghost form, and since she couldn't be in her ghost for during tests...she'd just have to find a way to keep herself alert.

If she hadn't managed to do that in high school, though, she didn't have much hope for keeping herself conscious in college.


	122. 100209: Bus

**Author**: And now, to spam your inboxes. Sorry!

**Disclaimer**: Ahahahaha

**129 Bus**

Danny occasionally enjoyed the bus that ran through/around campus. It meant she didn't have to expend any energy, and when it was raining she preferred it—raindrops falling through her felt strange.

She also had the most fun people-watching on the bus. It always seemed to encourage a wide assortment of interesting characters.

That day, it being a Friday, it was already filling up with people making their way to on and off-campus parties of one sort or another. Danny didn't particularly care for what most people defined as a "party" and was usually more than content to spend the weekend sleeping. She was catching up on all the sleep she had missed during high school.

Although it was debatable if she could even _do_ that.

Danny sighed, shifted in the uncomfortable bus seat, and attempted to ignore the frat boy sitting beside her, who was making loud, lewd comments with his friends.


	123. 100309: Feathers

**Disclaimer**: No.

**159 Feathers **(sat 10/3)

If there was anyone who was alarmingly adept at ruffling Danny's feathers, it was her brother. Why she even bothered to _talk_ to him sometimes was beyond her.

She supposed it was because he was her sibling and she needed to check in on him every now and then, just to make sure he was still in one piece.

_That_ seemed to amuse him more than annoy him, as if he took her behavior as something to be analyzed, which annoyed Danny. A lot.

Still, he was her _brother_, which meant he was _important._ So, even though he could make her squawk indignantly and want to wring his neck, she still knew she cared for him—not like she'd ever admit it to him.

_Still, does he have to be such a know-it-all? _she groused inwardly as she hung up the phone. She paused for a moment, then sighed gustily. _Still, he wouldn't be _Jazz_ if he wasn't a pain-in-the-ass._


	124. 100409: Silk

**Disclaimer**: No.

**117 Silk**

Danny enjoyed the transformation into her ghost form. It felt like silk being draped on her body, cascading down in a rich, luxurious wave that settled on her effortlessly.

Admittedly, it wasn't as if she knew much about how silk felt, but she imagined that it felt the way that turning into her ghost form did. It was a fluid, smooth, cloth-y feeling, and as she couldn't think of any other fabric that would behave in such a manner, she mentally shrugged and called it 'silky'.

Even her ghost form's clothing didn't feel like the jumpsuit material she had worn into the Ghost Portal. It had become something else—either as a result of the shock or simply because of her maturation. She didn't want to even _ponder_ attempting to take her suit off, though—skin-tight clothing was notoriously difficult to get off, and even harder to put back on.

Danny sighed and ran her fingers over part of her chest, trailing lightly against the silken fabric, then let her hand drop to the rock she had pulled over to use as a desk, forcing herself to concentrate.


	125. 100509: Wounds

**Disclaimer**: No.

**359 wounds**

Danny knew that everyone had their wounds, had their scars. It was easy to see—a flickering of the eyes downcast, the tightening of the mouth, the tensing of a hand. She _knew_ it was easy to read where her own wounds lay, but not a lot of people pressed too hard when the topic strayed too close to one that Danny was uncomfortable with.

But she had never _really_ discovered where Vlad's wounds were. She knew that it _probably_ had something to do with her family, since she never mentioned the people, and the one time she did, it had been in a less-than-positive light. Danny had never pressed the subject, though, since Vlad was very good at being _very_ distracting. Danny nonetheless had a feeling that if Vlad didn't let someone close up those wounds that they would kill her.

From how she had become a ruthless businesswoman and half-ghost Danny could already see just how much she had bled out.

Danny shook her head covertly and ran a hand through her hair. _Not like Vlad would accept help anyway_, she thought a little sadly. Danny forcibly turned her attention back to class, and pondered whether or not an impromptu visit to her favorite malicious billionaire would feasible.


	126. 100609: Dull

**Disclaimer**: No.

**186 Dull**

Tuesdays were always unbearable to Danny. They were dull, they dragged, and no-one seemed to be in a particularly pleasant mood. That her professors seemed to have a predilection for dumping work on them Tuesdays didn't make her like the day any more.

She knew it wasn't just _she_ who thought so—Finn complained vocally about how much Tuesdays sucked, and Tucker was inclined to agree when Danny brought up the topic of Tuesday dullness.

"I think everyone's still kinda pissed that the weekend's over and the next one's still so far away," Tucker speculated.

Danny shrugged and readjusted the bra strap on her shoulder. "Guess so."

There was a brief, comfortable pause before Tucker asked, "Have you spoken to Sam lately?"

Danny blinked, then shifted, embarrassed. "Actually, I haven't spoken to him since school started."

"Girl, I'm touched that you talk to me, but he _is_ still a good friend...even if you dumped him for—"

"_Tucker_," Danny hissed, but the girl on the other side of the computer screen's smile was completely unapologetic.

"Look into it. Bet he's all lonely without us."

Danny rolled her eyes. "Bet he's enjoying the break from us, you mean."

Tucker snickered. "But, seriously. It's not good to cut yourself off from someone who was a _very_ good friend."

Danny shifted in her seat and sighed. Tucker had a point. "I'll look into it. When I'm not busy."

"You don't have _ghosts_ to deal with—what could you _possibly_ be busy with?"

Danny couldn't help the smile that twitched across her face. "Yeah, well. There's this thing...called homework..."

Tucker rolled her eyes. "Pfft. Homework."

Danny snickered.

"What _are_ you studying anyway, Tuck?" Danny asked. "I can't imagine it's anything us mere mortals would look into."

Tucker followed Danny's cue and affected haughtiness. "Well, wouldn't you like to know?"

Danny laughed and smiled. "But, seriously. What _are_ you studying?"

Tucker was more than happy to launch into a description of what she was doing in her classes, and Danny was content to listen, leaning back in her chair.


	127. 100709: Falling

**Disclaimer**: No.

**192 Falling**

Danny often had dreams of falling. Where her powers utterly failed her, where there was nothing and no-one to stop her frenzied decent downward, the wind that buffeted her body merciless and cold. She reached out for help of any kind, but only nothingness responded, and left her to plummet towards something that was just _waited_ to consume her.

Those dreams always left Danny shaking and wanting nothing more to climb into someone's arms and have them tell her she's safe. She knew she couldn't do that with anyone, though—she wasn't sure how Vlad would react to a terrified college student looking to her for reassurance, she was too old for her mother and father, and...well, she hadn't gone to Sam before, why would she start doing that now?

So she simply curled up in her blankets, pulled them over her head, and tried to calm her frantically beating heart as she told herself she was safe, that she did have _some_ control over her life, that everything would be okay.

It was a hollow, empty mantra, but Danny forced herself to believe it, and gradually fell back to sleep.


	128. 100809: Hear

**Disclaimer**: No.

**98 Hear**

"It's nice to hear from you."

Danny smiled sheepishly across the connection. "Yeah, sorry I haven't called you earlier."

Sam shrugged. "We've _both_ been busy. I should've called _you_."

There was an awkward pause, before Danny said, "So, how are classes going? What are the people that you've met like?"

Sam's lips twitched in a small smile before breaking out into a wider one. "You wouldn't find any interesting. It's all public policy stuff."

"Hey, if I can sit through Tucker's techno-babble and find it interesting, I think I'll survive yours."

Sam snickered. "How's she doing anyway?"

"You haven't spoken to her?" Danny asked, incredulous. It had been Tucker's idea that she call Sam anyway, so she figured that they had engaged in more frequent contact.

Sam abruptly looked abashed. "I did. Once. We...um...had a rather heated disagreement over a few things."

Danny quirked an eyebrow, realized how much of a Vlad-gesture it was, and immediately smoothed out her features into a different expression of incredulity. "You've had your arguments before, but you say it like it was worse than normal..."

Sam sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It doesn't matter. So, what're your classes like?"

Danny let the subject drop, and was more than happy to engage in the first real conversation she had with her former boyfriend in quite some time.


	129. 100909: Anniversary

**Disclaimer**: No.

**6 Anniversary**

Danny knew that her parents' anniversary was coming up, and was, again, amused by how much stock her father put into the day. Most guys Danny knew wouldn't even register the anniversary of a wedding or even a _relationship_, but her father seemed to be a romantic at heart.

Danny knew for certain that her mother never remembered, which seemed to both amuse and annoy her father.

If Danny had still been dating Sam, that day would have marked their...what, 3 year anniversary? But, she and he had parted ways in August, so the day was now of no import—it was just a Friday, which was _really nice_, but had no other greater significance.

Although it did make Danny wonder if Vlad had any anniversaries of her own. Not relationship-wise, _obviously_, but maybe other things...?

Danny shook her head and leaned back on the roof of her dorm, her arms tucking behind her to pillow her head.

_It doesn't matter. She doesn't have much to remember positively anyway...or at least that's how she affects it._

Danny sighed and closed her eyes, soaking in the silver moonlight, content to let her body and mind unwind after a week of school.


	130. 101009: Theft

**Disclaimer**: No.

**349 theft**

Danny frowned at the news of theft on campus. She knew that people were jerks and coveted what others had, and so would go to stupid extremes to get it, but it still seemed petty and, frankly, annoying. She had never patrolled as a ghost to stop people from doing stupid things—hell, she had _committed_ acts of theivery in the past (which was still something that made her cringe to think about).

She also felt that using her ghost powers against human was...wrong. They couldn't fight back against a ghost—they didn't have the means to do so. Sure, some might take advantage of such (like a particular billionaire she knew) but she felt it wasn't _fair_.

Of course, she supposed that it was also crime-dependent. In Amity Park, there weren't many things like murders, so she hadn't _needed_ to help. She figured that was what the human police were for. They might be ineffective against ghosts, but they seemed to do well enough against human criminals. No-one had approached her for her help, anyway.

Still, she took precautions, both for hers and Jewel's belongings. Computers were far, far too valuable for them to walk. She also sent up a small prayer to whatever deity might be listening that she would never have to use her ghost powers against someone who wasn't capable of truly fighting back.


	131. 101109: Eyelashes

**Disclaimer**: No.

**201 Eyelashes**

"Did you know you can make wishes with eyelashes?"

Danny blinked and frowned in confusion. "What? Really?"

"Yup," Jewel said and ran her thumb across Danny's cheek, surprising the girl. When Jewel pulled away, one of Danny's eyelashes was resting on her thumb. "I'm not sure _why_," Jewel said, "but if you have a stray eyelash, you can blow it off your thumb and make a wish."

Danny looked incredulous. "That's weird."

Jewel shrugged and drew back, pausing for a moment before lightly blowing the eyelash away. "I think people just like making wishes. But you can't say it aloud. It's like birthday wishes."

Danny's lips twitched in a small smile. She figured that the not-saying-aloud thing was good, just in case Desiree ever decided to come around her college.

Not that she felt the genie would—but it was always good to plan for contingencies.

_Although that's a Vlad-thing too,_ she sighed and turned back to her work. _This whole planning thing gives me a headache._


	132. 101209: Letter

**Disclaimer**: No.

**79 Letter**

It wasn't often that she received a letter. A real, honest-to-God paper letter. Mostly it was because e-mail was simply _faster_ and who bothered to take the time and money to write a _letter_?

Until she discovered it was an invitation.

_Alright, people still send invitations via mail,_ she thought distantly. _But what's it an invitation _for?

Danny opened the envelope, blinked a few times, and then laughed. "Well..." she murmured, a smile pulling at her features. "Guess I can't say 'No' when it was phrased so _nicely_."

She had never thought that she would be invited to a Halloween party by the ghosts in the Ghost Zone. She knew that it would most likely be a trap, but no-one had seen hide nor hair of the Fright Knight any time recently, and she felt that as the majority of ghosts had a bone to pick with her, she showing up would probably result in Bad Things for the ghost.

She supposed that a Halloween celebration made more sense than a Christmas one, at least for ghosts. _Although there _is_ winter solstice,_ Danny thought. _Halloween and the winter solstice are when the wall between the human world and the Ghost Zone is thinnest across the globe. Sure, there are my parents' and Vlad's ghost portals, but they take advantage of a local thinness. _Danny sighed. _Should I say yes? It _is_ on a Saturday, which is when most people will be out drinking and partying anyway. Guess it'll be interesting to see how ghosts party._

She took out the RSVP card, wrote her name on it, and started slightly when it vanished from her grasp.

She sighed and shook her head before putting the invitation itself in her backpack, musing over the coming of Halloween—and, of course, Vlad's birthday.


	133. 101309: Complain

**Disclaimer**: No.

**223 Complain**

Danny's entire body complained as she stretched, and she winced as muscles and bones shifted and popped against each other.

_I should get out more. I'm getting fat and lazy without ghosts to keep me on my toes,_ she thought wryly. Danny looked down at her bathing suit and could barely restrain a small blush. _I'm glad I bought a new one—yay for end-of-season sales. I don't think that I'd be able to _fit_ into any of my old ones._

Danny disliked running. It had been one of those gym requirements that she had loathed. But, she had always taken to swimming, and had decided, eventually, that she liked it because it felt a little like flying. A semi-weightlessness that buoyed her up and caressed her body. So, once she found out they had a pool at the university, she decided to try it out.

Danny made sure her body temperature was regulated before slipping into the water. She knew that most people complained that pool water was too cold—it really was around 82-83 degrees but the human body temperature was 98, so...—but to Danny it was really quite warm, almost hot. She quickly dunked herself underwater, getting her entire body wet before coming up for air and shaking the water out of her eyes.

She started off at a leisurely doggy-paddle, keeping her head just above water, her lips kissing the edge of the water.

It felt good to be swimming. She knew she'd be hurting the next day, from how the activity used different muscles, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

With an inward contented sigh, she let her mind go blank and focused solely on the movement of her body, getting lost in the rhythm of the motion.


	134. 101409: Deception

**Disclaimer**: No.

**35 Deception**

"You sure it's alright, getting to know this guy?"

"Danny, he's just someone I run around with online. I mean, with you and Sam not being able to play DOOM much anymore, it gets...boring...solo-ing things."

"Still..." Danny trailed off. "I mean, what if he's deceiving you into thinking he's a nice guy when he's really this serial killer are something?"

"Girl, you are _paranoid_."

"What? I just don't want to see you get hurt. I mean..." her voice trailed off into something quiet. "I deceive people all the time. Would _you_ look at me and say, 'She's definitely got ghost in her'?"

"Danny, look—"

"I know, I know, you're a big girl. I...just...you'll tell me if things start getting weird, ok?"

Danny couldn't tell if the expression on her best friend's face was exasperation, amusement, annoyance, or some combination of them all. "You'll be the first to know."

Danny felt relief wash through her. If she could help Tucker before things got _too _weird...

"Thanks," she said, completely sincere.

Tucker sighed and rolled her eyes. "Again—paranoid."

Danny coldn't help the small snicker that escaped her. "So...what's he play?"


	135. 101509: Bench

**Author**: Re-do

**Disclaimer: **Not mine.

**143 Bench**

Danny sat on one of the benches that littered the campus, simply trying to force herself to release the tension in her back as she people-watched. While the majority of people on campus came from Wisconsin, there was still the smattering of people that were from elsewhere—either countries or other parts of the US. Her backpack was sitting between her feet, and chin propped in her hands as her elbows rested lightly on her thighs.

The weather was getting nippy rather quickly, but Danny didn't notice, considering her own body temperature. She saw other people putting on sweaters and light jackets, but Danny was content to walk around in jeans and a t-shirt. She knew that she would, eventually, need to conform by changing how she dressed, but until it became unavoidable, she would wear her t-shirts—they were able to adapt to her form best.

True, it seemed as if she had plateau-d on her growth spurt, her hight and bust-size not having changed in at _least_ a week. She was hoping that she had evened out. It was getting tiring and a money drain to buy so much clothing.

She ran a hand through her hair and shifted on the bench, trying to find at least a semi-comfortable seat on the hard wood.

The air around campus had been..._odd_ lately. There was a charge to it, a strange sent, a slightly tangy taste. All of her friends had noticed it. It made people uneasy, jumpy, nervous. It was something anticipatory, but Danny wasn't sure she'd like the result whenever the tension broke. She shifted uneasily, sighed, and shook her head.

_I can't pinpoint it. It's elusive and it's driving me _nuts. _I can't tell what it is either...it doesn't feel like anything I've come across before. I just hope I'm ready for whatever comes._

She ran a hand through her hair and stood, picking the bag out from between her feet and slinging it over her shoulder.

_But I have a baaad feeling that I'm not going to like it._


	136. 101609: Spice

**Disclaimer**: No.

**332 Spice**

Danny hated how the dining halls seemed to either go overboard with the spices or barely use any at all. While she _could_ add spice if it was lacking, she couldn't scrape the spice off if they dumped a container of whatever the needed to use on the food. She figured the odd fluctuation in quality was due to the need to create a very large quantity of food—for even though people tried their best to eat off-campus, the university was still required to make enough for everyone to be able to have some, and with the sports teams, she wasn't surprised that they needed to make _a lot_.

_Guess it's the whole quality vs quantity thing,_ she thought morosely as she poked at a piece of chicken on her plate. _Although I am glad that none of the food tries to attack me. _That_ would be hard to explain_.

The thought of her previous experiences with ghost-infused toast that tried to eat _her_ made her smile.

_Well, I guess it's not all bad, then._


	137. 101709: Picture

**Disclaimer**: No.

**240 Picture**

Danny was slightly weirded out by the pictures that Vlad of her hidden away—since she didn't remember the majority of them being _taken._ Which means that Vlad had been stalking her for quite some time; while that wasn't something outside the realm of possibility, it was still creepy.

The picture of Vlad with her parents when they were in grad school wasn't even that surprising—she had seen it before, afterall.

What _did_ surprise her was the picture of herself when she was a small child. The gentle look of her mother and father as they held her in their arms, she having one hand fisted in her mother's clothing—which was much looser at the time of the picture.

"How'd you get this?" she asked when Vlad entered the room, and Vlad became very still.

"I loved your father for quite some time. Of course I would keep an interest in his growing family."

Danny frowned. "You must have used your ghost powers to get so close—how did no-one notice?"

A small, strange smile quirked on Vlad's lips and she said, "You noticed."

Danny looked back at the picture and saw that, indeed, her face was turned towards to look through the picture at her. "Huh."

Vlad took the picture from Danny's fingers and placed it back where Danny had found it. "Refrain from looking through my belongings," Vlad said, there not even a request in the tone.

Danny frowned, bristling at the demand, but knowing that it made sense. Danny would have been pissed if Vlad had gone through her stuff. Not to say that the woman hadn't done so anyway.

"You keep a lot of pictures, but I don't see any of _your_ family. Why?"

A brief, odd expression flashed across Vlad's face before her normal demeanor fell back into place, she giving Danny a rather cool look. "That, my dear, is not your concern. Now, come. Time is wasting."

Danny grumbled darkly but allowed herself to be lead away, her mind drifting back to the baby-picture, and the effort it must have taken to get it.

Which begged the question—why would Vlad bother in the first place?


	138. 101809: Shower

**Disclaimer**: Nope

**88 Shower**

Danny's head lightly thunked against the shower stall's wall, and she closed her eyes and sighed.

_Damnit, Danny. You're an idiot._

She had _hoped_ that she had escaped ghosts, as she had switched locations. Alas, while it seemed to have taken them a little time, her pursuers had caught up with her.

True, she now had enough skill to stop them from causing much collateral damage, simply tossing them into the Ghost Zone, where they could fight and not have to worry about things like normal people.

Still, it now meant that she had her job as well as her homework to take care of.

Danny sighed gustily and pulled her head back, letting the water stream across her face in silken rivulets. Eventually, she turned and picked up her shampoo.

_Well, now Jewel gets to learn how to defend herself—and other people—from ghosts. I'm sure she'll be _thrilled.

Danny roughly scrubbed the shampoo into her hair, her fingers running along her scalp with a kind of absent-minded efficiency. _It's getting a little long, I should've had it cut before I came to college,_ she thought idly.

Her shoulders slumped and she let the unsteady stream of water gradually wash the soapy suds out of her hair, the white foam flowing down around her newfound curves. _Well, now I know what that feeling was. Something—or someone—broke down the barrier between our world and the Ghost Zone, and that feeling was the winding up of the energy needed to do so. I haven't had time to find where or how or who—the return of all those ghosts means bad things_._ Damnit. This is _so_ not going to be fun._


	139. 101909: Lullaby

**Disclaimer**: No.

**341 Lullaby**

Danny had faint memories of her mother singing her an off-key lullaby as she was put to sleep when she was younger. It was more chanting than anything else, with only a few changes in tone, but it had been—and still was—oddly soothing. Every now and then Danny found herself humming the 'tune', and couldn't help but smile ruefully. It was a memory from a time where she didn't have to worry about classes or ghosts or attractive billionaires or friends or enemies or...

Sometimes, Danny wanted to be selfish, like what she remembered when that lullaby was part of the nightly routine. Her mother would sing to her, or her father would tell her stories about when he was growing up. It had been blissfully simple, and Danny yearned for that time, occasionally.

Then she would remember that it meant she wouldn't have met Sam, or discover about ghosts, or meet Vlad, and she liked all these things, even if most of them were annoying. So even though she would sometimes yearn for when things were simpler, she found she was oddly content with her life. Sure, it was insane, but she had a feeling that having it any other way would bore her to tears. She _had_ been getting antsy without any ghosts around, so maybe it was a _good_ thing that Skulker had finally tracked her down.

Time would tell.


	140. 102009: Broken Glass

**Disclaimer**: No.

**281 Broken glass**

Danny had broken enough glass in her high school career that the school budget had needed to go up in order to compensate for that—along with the wanton damage that Danny Phantom's fights wrought on lockers and tables and...yeah.

She was still leery of handling anything fragile and glass, though. She _had_ nearly mastered control over her powers, but they still sometimes got away from her. Like during her monthly. Which she was _not_ looking forward to.

_Maybe I can get notes and homework from someone? I don't want to suddenly vanish during class. That would be...hrm. _

While breaking glass as a human was a pain, it was even worse when she was in ghost form, because if she transformed out of ghost form accidentally with glass shards stuck in her body, the glass didn't go away when she transformed, and so dug all the deeper into her.

It had actually been one of the reasons her family had discovered she was half-ghost. Danny had unfortunately transformed back human as she was hurled herself through the wall into the basement of her house, body peppered with pieces of glass—some not so small. Since her energy had failed her, when she reverted to human form the broken glass was still in her body.

Her father had come down to find her trying to pull glass out of her arm, and she was bleeding from many other places on her body, which meant she probably had looked horrible.

Her father, of course, had immediately begun to help her, calling his wife down to bandage Danny, since she _was_ losing a whole lot of blood.

There was one piece of glass, however, just above her knee that refused to budge. It was possbily stuck against muscle or bone or both and it might be crippling to Danny to take it out. As her mother was dialing 911, Danny felt enough energy well within her that she could feasibly turn ghost and phase it out. But that would mean going ghost _right in front of her parents._

"Uh...mom? Dad?"

"Yes, sweetie?" Her father asked, concern written on his features, even though most were hidden from sight.

"I'm going to do something, and you have to promise not to kill me."

Bafflement appeared on Maddie's face. "Why would I want to _kill_ you?"

"Just...promise me?"

Maddie nodded. "I promise."

So she had turned ghost.

Both her mother and father had frozen as she phased the glass—and whatever had remained stuck in her—out, tiny, glittering shards forming a pool about her.

It had been..._interesting_...explaining everything hurriedly at gun-point. That she was still exhausted and changed back into human before they could really wind up helped release the tension, though. The questioning after that was more subdued and confused. It had taken a lot of work, but she had eventually convinced her parents that she _really_ wasn't evil—that was Plasmius.

That, of course, was before she had gotten to know Vlad well.

_She's _still_ evil,_ she conceded inwardly. _Guess it's too late to redeem her. And anyway, that evilness is oddly...attractive._

Danny forcibly veered her thoughts away from that particular trail and forced herself to focus on the lab she was performing.


	141. 102109: Intuition

**Author**: And now I'm _really_ done spamming your inboxes. I promise that I'll try to keep it daily again. Really.

**Disclaimer**: I wouldn't be a poor graduate student if I owned Danny Phantom.

**251 Intuition**

Danny didn't often listen to her "feminine intuition" because, more often than not, she was dead wrong. Unfortunately, her intuition was right this time.

Where there were ghosts, there tended to be a Ghost Portal. In order for there to _be_ a Ghost Portal, people need to have made it. As for the why...well, it made Danny want to smack her forehead in exasperation.

Those who had worked on it didn't so much _create_ it as _repair_ the Proto-Portal that her parents and Vlad had made. _That_ was the how of how the ghosts found their way to the University.

Why the object was left lying around, Danny couldn't fathom. Why the _plans_ were left in storage was beyond her. With the tools already available and the blueprints easily interpreted...well, it was only a matter of time before something went wrong.

That something going wrong had resulted in the deaths of the five students who had been working on it.

Danny hovered, invisible, in the room where the ghost portal now hung in midair, regarding it with suspicion. That ghosts weren't pouring out of it was odd. It also felt..._wrong._ It wasn't like her family's or Vlad's portal. There was nothing to shut it, to contain the energy. But, somehow, _something_ was regulating the entrance of ghosts into the Human world via the new portal.

Danny reached out and gently brushed her fingers against the surface of the portal, hoping to perhaps get a feel for the energy that generated it.

She abruptly recoiled back in horror, looking at the swirling energy sink before her.

The reason why only a few ghosts managed to get through was because that the wills and consciousnesses of the students who had revived the device still lingered, in a limited sense. Those shredded remains were able to discern the strength level and intent of the ghosts that sought passage through, and had actually blocked a lot of ghostly activity.

It made Danny sick.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and brushed her fingers against the swirling portal. "I wish I could help..."

_But they are too far gone. I can't separate energy and consciousness—I don't know how. Vlad might, though._

She paused, and her shoulders slumped. _Let's go see if I can convince her to help me with this. I feel she'll be as revolted by it as I...although she'll probably say something along the lines of "they messed with it, they deserve this." But I think she won't actually _feel_ that way. Because even though she's a bitch, this is abhorrent enough to move even her._

Danny turned and teleported away, hoping that the billionaire would, indeed, be able to help her.


	142. 102209: Peace

**Author**: Mm...yeah. Daily updates again :D

**Disclaimer**: I've written 50+ stories. One of those series has yet to belong to me.

**100 Peace**

Danny had enjoyed the period of peace, when she didn't have to worry about being jumped by a ghost as she turned a corner and had time to actually settle and not be immediately dubbed a freak.

But now, with ghosts running amok again, it was oddly..._right_. Like something had been _missing_ in her life—which made no sense, because ghosts were a nuisance more than anything else and she had _wished_ for the day when she no longer had to deal with them. However, with their return, it felt as if her life had gained substance again, and while it _was_ going to be troublesome and frustrating and dangerous, she was faintly _happy_ that insanity had been introduced back into her existence.

_Maybe you've been hit on the head one too many times,_ she thought to herself ruefully as she tossed a thermos lightly in the air, catching it when it descended, the presence of the object comfortable and familiar. _I guess when you do something for four years, it kinda becomes ingrained in you._

Danny paused, as an uneasy thought wormed its way into her mind. _Or your obsession._

She put the thermos away in a box in her closet and ran a hand through her hair, disquieted by the notion of saving the world as being an obsession.

_Well, I guess it's at least a good thing? Not like how Vlad used to be about my dad..._

Still, obsessions were never _good_ things. They were distracting, consumed you, took up every thought.

Danny blinked, then laughed quietly at herself. _So, for a little, Vlad was my obsession? Whooo, boy, Danny, maybe it's good you're in college. Get some perspective on your warped little romance with a woman twice your age._

As it was, absence didn't make the heart grow _fonder_ as much as _forgetful._ At least, for Danny. Perhaps it was just everything else in her life distracting her, or maybe she had simply been too long and too often in Vlad's presence during the summer. Admittedly, she _did_ still like being in Vlad's presence—the trips she paid to the woman during the weekend and when needed for consultation left her in a good mood, no matter what had happened before. However, it wasn't the same kind of burning desire that she remembered.

Danny sighed and scratched her head vigorously. _Whatever. Classes and homework take precedence now that I'm in school again. She's probably just as distracted with her work and stuff._

Danny transformed into her ghost form and turned invisible and intangible, hoping that maybe a flight and a good fight would take her mind off her introspective musings.


	143. 102309: Pull

**Author**: I'm _not_ bashing Sam. I just...felt that the character wasn't fleshed out in the series, nor was her motivation for liking Danny. So...this.

**Disclaimer**: Ahahaha.

**181 Pull**

Tucker was, unsurprisingly, a very bad liar. So, instead of lying, she simply evaded questions or kept quiet. It had been the only way she had gotten around Danny pulling what the conversation between she and Sam had been that drove such a wedge between them had been.

Because, honestly, who would expect her to defend Danny's choice in love interests?

Sam wasn't stupid, nor as oblivious as Danny, who set the world record for obliviousness. Sure, he didn't catch on _that_ quickly, but, given time, he tended to put things together.

Like Danny and Vlad.

Tucker had been surprised that he called _her_ first instead of Danny, but in retrospect it made sense—call the person who might have noticed as well, just to check if his perceptions were right.

Sam was never been known for his tact.

Tucker had been surprised to see his contact come up on her phone, and answered, "Hey, Sam, what—"

"Was Danny cheating on me with Vlad?"

There was a brief beat of 'huh?' before the question sunk in, which caused Tucker to frown at the phone. "What? What do you mean?"

"Tucker, just answer the question."

Part of the reason they had argued over the years was because of the dry, condescending tone that Sam occasionally used, which was the tone he had employed then.

"No."

"No what? She wasn't cheating on me?" Sam sounded relieved.

"If that's what you say."

"Wait, what?"

Tucker sneered at her phone. "What makes _you_ think Danny cheated on you? Don't you think that if she was involved with _Vlad_ that there would be some traits that shine through? Vlad doesn't exactly have a subdued personality."

"Well, I mean—"

"Dude, she _worked_ with the woman. Do you really think that working with someone constitutes cheating on you?"

"That's not it!" Sam said, exasperated. "She..." Tucker could picture Sam scowling at the floor. "She _changed_ after a few weeks of working with her."

"Changed?" Tucker repeated. _Tucker_ had noticed it _at the time_—it had been horrifying and fascinating to see how Danny changed slowly as a result of her blooming feelings (or maybe they were simply surfacing?).

It spoke for Sam that he had subconsciously noticed the subtle shift, but he _still _couldn't put it together until _weeks_ later. Maybe it was good that Danny had become taken with Vlad—_someone_ had to look out for her, being as selfless and stupid as Danny could be.

"She wasn't _there_ anymore when I kissed her, she seemed _uncomfortable_ when I held her..." Tucker imagined Sam's shoulders slumped. "It was strange."

Tucker rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously and decided to go with a non-committal "Mm."

That seemed to prompt Sam into venting at her, every word making Tucker more pissed because Sam was painting Danny in such a bad light. Sure, Danny wasn't the most _demonstrative_ in her romantic gestures, but she did little endearing things that let you know she cared—however, apparently those didn't translate well in the male language.

"Sam, she was your _girlfriend! _How can you be _saying_ this?"

"She _cheated_ on me, Tuck! You're _not supposed to do that!_"

"No-one said she _did! _Anyway, think there's a reason she _might have_ looked elsewhere?" Tucker said acidly.

There was a long, shocked pause on the other end of the line.

"Hm, let's see. You can be horribly self-absorbed, you tried to change Danny into something _you_ wanted—that vegetarian bullshit, the animal rights activism, how she dressed, what she did—and you _know_ Danny rebels against that. She liked you because it felt like she _should_ like you, that you had been such good friends for so long that it was _obvious_ that you should get together."

It felt _good_ to say everything that she'd kept quiet on, as she let Danny and Sam figure out their relationship in their own way. "_You_ only liked her because of the spotlight on her. You only appreciated her because she was a freak, weird, everything that you felt would be going against the grain. Sure, were the feelings true once? Yeah. But maybe Danny got _tired_ of trying to be someone she isn't."

Sam sputtered. "I changed for her, too!"

"_How_?" Tucker demanded.

"I kept on doing her ghost thing long after it became important or even engaging. She doesn't even have to _work_ at defeating ghosts—us being there was just...moral support."

"You _know_ she would have let you go if you wanted to stop."

"She needed me there."

"So, you _wanted_ to be there, so that wasn't a concession."

There was a frustrated noise before Sam said, "You haven't answered my question! Did Danny cheat on me?"

"Have _you_ cheated on her? I saw the way you looked at a few of the other girls in the school. You were getting _bored_, weren't you?"

"BORED?"

Tucker had wisely pulled the phone away from her ear prior to the exclamation.

"How can you get bored dating someone like _her_?"

"I don't know, how can you?" Tucker replied.

There was a simmering silence on both ends.

"Fine. _Don't_ tell me. I'll find out, eventually."

"Whatever you say," Tucker replied dryly.

The phone call ended, and Tucker watched the screen flash for a few seconds in the 'call ended' way before she sighed and slipped it back into her pocket.

She shook her head slowly at her computer screen, staring at the background blankly, she having closed the Skype call some time ago.

_God, guys can be thick. Then again, I think there will always be some confusion between the genders. Ah, man, fml. I hate that things have gotten so weird and strained. Danny, why can't you do _anything_ normally?_


	144. 102409: Scandal

**Author**: Vlad's beginning to talk to me again. A little. At least in regards to Danny. And doing...uh..._things_ to her.

PS, Salamandurr, your doodlings made me lol. XD And Martel, you already know you have my eternal love.

**Disclaimer**: I am affiliated in no way with Nickelodean or the Danny Phantom franchise. Alas.

**268 Scandal**

"Vlad?"

"Yes?"

"What if...what if someone found out? About...you and me? Won't that be bad for you?"

Vlad paused and shrugged delicately. "You are of legal age. There is nothing anyone can call me on."

Danny frowned, seated on one of Vlad's couches, recovering from a long, _long_ week by lounging about where there are actually comfortable piece of furniture. That it also put her in the billionaire's company didn't bother her—or said billionaire. "What if—"

"Danny," Vlad cut her off, fixing Danny to her seat with a gaze. "Do you think I don't have any plans in case our..._unique_...situation comes to light?"

Danny looked away from Vlad's gaze and picked at her fingernails. "Yeah, but..."

"What are you afraid of?"

Danny blinked, and watched as Vlad stood from where she had been sitting to take a seat next to Danny on the rather large couch the younger half-ghost had situated herself on.

"What?"

"Is it your parents?"

Danny's eyes darted to the floor and she fidgeted. "I..."

Vlad brushed her fingers against Danny's cheek, making the girl look up.

"You told them about you being half-ghost and they accepted you," Vlad pointed out.

Danny caught Vlad's hand between her own and held it, the physical contact helping soothe her a little.

"This is...different."

"A very astute observation," Vlad drawled, making Danny's lips twitch in something between anger and amusement.

"No, I'm serious," Danny said. "It's one thing to tell them that 'hey, by the way, your machine gave me ghost powers' and a whole other thing to say, 'Oh, right. I forgot to mention that I'm involved with your best friend who is mom's age and a woman.'" Danny shook her head. "I think that would be a little hard even for _them_ to swallow."

"You said Tucker—"

"Tucker is Tucker. She...I think very little I do phases her anymore."

Danny could _feel_ Vlad smirking.

There was a short silence before Vlad sighed and reached out with her other hand to tilt Danny's face towards her. "Is that what we are, little badger?" Vlad asked quietly. "'Involved'?"

Danny looked away, trying to find the words to describe what she perceived. "Well...I...I'm not _sure_ if I...l-love you..." Danny half-stammered. "I mean, I _want_ you." Danny hadn't expected the soft smoldering heat in her voice at the last statement. It seemed like the feelings from the summer were _still_ there—just much quieter. "But...l-love?" Danny looked up at the billionaire, desperately searching for any kind of reaction.

Vlad's eyes met Danny's and the woman sighed after a minute that lasted forever.

"You're young. You can afford to be stupid."

"Hey! What's that supposed to me—"

Danny's protest was cut off as Vlad's mouth covered hers, and Danny shivered. She hadn't _really_ kissed the billionaire in quite some time.

Most of the time they weren't even in the mansion at the same time—Vlad's life kept her working on weekends, so when Danny swung by for her weekly check-up 9 times out of 10 Vlad wasn't there, or if she was, Danny didn't _really_ have time to stop in. The few times she saw her just-because or for consultation purposes things had never really taken a turn towards any kind of romantic interaction.

Now Danny remembered just why she had loved those teleportation lessons so much.

Danny shifted and turned towards Vlad so that the angle of the kiss wasn't quite so awkward. Danny reached out and tangled her fingers in Vlad's hair, moving even closer to the billionaire she had become quite taken with.

She felt Vlad's hand trail down the side of her body to rest on her hip, the contact sending little tingles through Danny's body. The kiss ended quietly, Vlad's lips still hovering over Danny's, the anticipation and lingering feeling almost as good as the kiss itself. Danny lightly pressed her lips against Vlad's once more before pulling back far enough to look at the older half-ghost.

"Vl—"

Vlad silenced Danny with another light, chaste kiss before resting her forehead against Danny's. "You're a smart girl, but your grasp on your emotions is clumsy," Vlad murmured. There was a pause before Vlad said, in a rather playful, seductive purr, "Can I convince you to spend the rest of the day with me? I'm sure I can find something for you and I to do."

In the millisecond it took for Danny to put together a response of any kind, her less-than-pure self had already fielded a number of things that she and Vlad could _do together_.

The question itself and the provoked thoughts made Danny blush hotly. "I-I..."

"You don't usually do homework on Saturdays, right? It's your day off."

Danny swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, well..."

One part of Danny was screaming at her to just jump the woman, pin her to the couch, kiss her senseless before...

She forced her thoughts to veer down a different direction, and she gave the woman who was looking at her intently a shaky smile. "I'd...uh...love to, but I have plans with friends."

Which was only partly a lie. She did have plans to hang out and have a movie night with a group of people, but the rest of her day was _technically_ free.

Vlad gave her a slow, sexy smirk before pulling back. "We can simply go shopping, either for indulgences or more necessary things. I'll have you back in time for you movie marathon."

Danny finally managed to grab her scrambled wits and set them back in order as she disentangled her fingers from Vlad's hair (she kept the hair tie though, the woman look _so good_ with her hair down). It took her a second longer to process what Vlad had said.

"You've been _spying_ on me again," Danny said, mildly exasperated as she slid Vlad's hair-tie around her wrist.

"For your own good," Vlad replied and stood, giving Danny a brief moment to admire the woman's sleek, dangerous form before Danny realized she was staring and looked away.

"Yeah well. It's still not cool. Don't do it anymore."

"Of course," Vlad said, amused and completely insincere.

Danny rolled her eyes and stood, idly noting that she was able to look Vlad in the eyes without looking up.

"Just...don't keep me too long."

Vlad feigned offended very convincingly.


	145. 102509: New Job

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**19 New job**

Jewel took to her new job as a ghost hunter like a fish to water. Sure, her handle on the weapons was clumsy and she still jumped a little at the effect of the ghost weapons, but her sheer enthusiasm made up for lack of skill. For the most part she wasn't a hindrance to the battle that had been brought to Danny once more, although Danny felt a twinge of nostalgia and longing when she remembered that neither Sam nor Tucker were there to help her.

_Which reminds me..._

"Hey Tuck?"

"Yeah"

"When _was_ the last time you spoke with Sam?"

Tucker paused. "Two? Three? Weeks after are we all moved in."

Danny's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Tucker nodded. "He and I had a point of...disagreement...that isn't something he nor I can get over real fast."

Danny whistled softly and shifted her position on the roof. "He seemed okay to me."

"Maybe he's had time to get over himself," Tucker muttered.

Danny looked at her curiously. "Just what _was_ your argument about?"

Tucker shrugged. "Doesn't matter now, since he seems to be, y'know, _thinking _now."

"And he has a girlfriend."

That time it was Tucker's turn to have her eyebrows reach her hairline in incredulity. "You don't seem..."

"Upset? Out of the two of us, I think I've got the better deal."

Tucker snickered. "Well, I mean, Vlad _is_ wealthy..."

"And good looking. And—"

"You don't have to go into details. I already know about _Vlad_. Tell me about Sam's new love interest."

"It wasn't easy to find out from _him_."

"He's a _guy_. That's weird."

"I'm also his former girlfriend. That _should_ have made things awkward."

"But it didn't?"

"C'mon, Tucker. _Vlad_."

"Right, right. Go on."

"Well, while _he_ was tight-lipped on the subject, his roommates teased him mercilessly about it."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Did you get any specifics?"

"Alas, no. Although it wasn't for lack of trying on his roommate's parts. I guess she and Sam must've hooked up recently."

Tucker shrugged. "Guess so."

"Heh. Out of the three of us you're the only one who's still single."

"Hey! I'm quite content in my relationship with my work and technology!"

Danny snickered and shook her head. "Whatever you say."

"What else did you and Sam talk about?" Tucker asked, curious in spite of herself.

Danny shrugged. "Not much. Talking with his roommates was _much_ more entertaining."

"They hijacked the conversation?"

"To Sam's dismay."

Tucker snickered and shook her head. "Guys are weird."

"True that."

Danny sighed and looked at the clock on her computer. "I should be turning in."

"I keep on forgetting the time difference," Tucker said wryly. "You go do that sleep thing."

"Will do," Danny replied and gave Tucker a mock salute. "Talk to you later."

"Sure, sure," Tucker laughed.

Danny closed the window and looked at the background on her computer screen for a moment before sighing and closing the top, going intangible and invisible, sinking through ceilings and floors to her room.


	146. 102609: Whirl

**Disclaimer**: Ahahaha.

**346 Whirl**

Danny had a whirlwind of a life, and she was panicked when she remembered that the coming Saturday was Vlad's birthday. She had absolutely _nothing_ for the woman, and had no idea what to get her in the first place.

_Then again, what do you get a woman who has everything?_

Danny found her mind spinning in circles with regard to what could _possibly_ be fit to give to Vlad—who happened to be one of the important people in her life, if not _the _most important.

She bit her lip and tapped her fork lightly on the food before her, waiting for Jewel to show up for their daily lunch together. In their rather busy lives and their completely different schedules—Danny had no idea how the other girl managed to get up so early in the morning for this sport called 'crew' that Danny was quickly associating with 'torture'—the only times they really managed to see each other was during meals.

Danny tended to be the one who was late—it was a side-effect of ghosts going after her again—but, for once, she had gotten to a place early, courtesy of no ghosts bothering her. She had become rather adept at avoiding them between classes, but even if she _was_ late, the teacher—_professor—_simply continued the lesson. There were no things such as tardies, and Danny wasn't even _required_ to go to class—it was simply advisable, if one didn't want to get behind in the material.

Danny's head met the table with a light _thunk _and she sighed.

_I'm surprised that the Lu—no, don't think that, if you do then it'll happen._

Danny heard someone walking her way and looked up to see Jewel give her a happy wave. She could never quite figure out how someone could manage to maintain the positive outlook that Jewel seemed to ascribe to.

_Well, it's better than hanging out with someone all serious and gloomy._

Danny returned the wave and sat up, a smile pulling at her lips as Jewel placed her backpack next to Danny to watch as she went to get food.


	147. 102709: Hope

**Author**: I officially hate my life. I know just getting a _60_ will have pass the test, but I'll be happy if I get even a _few_ points on that test. _Why_ am I testing so poorly? I'm not a bad student! _And_ I studied my ass off for that test! I rewrote my notes, read the books again...;_; Well, I wrote down something for everything...although I missed the point on an entire question and-I'll stop. You guys would rather read about Vlad and Danny than my angst, yes? Well, onward!

**Disclaimer**: I wouldn't have to bother with this grad school thing if I had the kind of money the owners of DP do.

**233 Hope**

Apparently, it was too much to hope that the ghosts would leave her alone for the few days before Halloween. Apparently while there was a short truce on _that day_, she still was up for grabs the rest of the time.

"You seem good at avoiding them," Jewel pointed out when Danny while was nursing a used-to-be-broken-now-only-hurting wrist, she having let her body temperature drop to where she was able to conjure ice and place it directly on her wrist.

Danny shrugged slightly. "You do it for four years, you gain some skills."

"Mad ninja skillz," Jewel snickered.

"Somewhat, yeah," Danny replied with a grin. The grin slowly faded and Danny asked, "How about you? How are _you_ holding up?"

Jewel tilted her head to the side slightly and smiled. "It's fun! It's dangerous, I know, but it's fun!"

Danny's lips twitched in a smothered smile. "You have a weird definition of fun."

"Must be the people I hang out with," Jewel teased.

Danny laughed and shook her head.

"You said you're going to a Halloween party?" Jewel asked.

Danny nodded. "Yeah. It's going to be..._interesting_."

"Good interesting or bad interesting?"

"Dunno yet."

"Oooh, you'll have to tell me how it goes! I'm not invited, right?"

Danny felt a brief wave of guilt. "Uh, I don't think you'd _want_ to go."

A lightbulb seemed to go off in Jewel's head and she grinned. "You're going to a ghost halloween party!" she chirped. "Now you _really_ have to tell me how it goes."

Danny found herself smiling as well, regardless of her misgivings of the event. "I'll tell you all about it."

_If I survive it, that is. Who knows what they have planned? Ghost parties _probably_ aren't like human ones. Well, at least Vlad will be there. I think. I hope. I'll have to ask her...speaking of the bitch..._

"Hey, Jewel?"

"Yeah?"

"My...a very important person to me's birthday is coming up and I don't know what to get them."

Interest formed in every line of Jewel's body. "Oh?"

Danny nodded, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "I mean, they're just...hard to shop for," Danny ended lamely.

"Oh, one of _those_ people," Jewel murmured and took up what Danny was beginning to name the girl's 'thinking' stance. "Well..."

"Well?"

"I guess, if they're hard to shop for, _don't_ shop for them? Make them something or do something for them?"

Danny grimaced. "I'm horrible and making things."

"Then _do_ something for them." She paused. "Or gift cards to book stores. Those are always good gifts."

Danny snickered quietly and imagined giving Vlad a gift card and the look on the billionaire's face that would provoke.

That left her with _doing_ something.

Danny sighed in exasperation. "But _what_? What do I do?"

Jewel shrugged. "I dunno. Think about it. Maybe it'll come to you as you sleep."

"Maybe," Danny murmured.

_What to do for Vlad...?_


	148. 102809: Heartbreak

**Disclaimer**: Danny Phantom mine is not.

**318 Heartbreak**

Danny found herself preoccupied with Vlad's birthday, which was both amusing and annoying to the half-ghost. She had _better_ things to worry about than the frootloop turning another year older.

The reminder of the term that had once been an insult and was now a fond way of addressing the other made Danny smile faintly.

It also reminded her of a time when she had actively hated the woman.

Danny grimaced at her homework, a hand tangling in the flickering silver flames that was her hair.

_How has she become such a large part of my life? How come...how come I can't even _think_ of living like I used to, actively disliking her?_

Danny knew, somehow _knew_, that if Vlad left her—because now that Danny had decided that having her life entwined with the billionaire's wasn't a bad thing, she planned on staying with Vlad and seeing where the older half-ghost took her—she might not recover from the heartbreak.

_Let's not ponder that, though_, Danny told herself forcibly. _I...I know it _might_ happen, but from how Vlad speaks...I don't think she has any plans of letting me go anytime soon._

That thought made the painful anxiety in her stomach leave and allowed her to sit up a little straighter and focus a little better on the vocabulary she was trying to pound into her head so she didn't fail her language course.


	149. 102909: Loss

**Author**: Look what I did instead of homework :D

**Disclaimer**: I've tried, but they throw desperate pleas into the shredder.

**3 Loss **(thurs 10/29)

Danny was at a loss as to what to do about the ghost All Hallows Eve party. Was she supposed to bring something? Dress up? What was the protocol for these things?

"Survival," Tucker suggested.

Danny snorted and shook her head as she kept the cell phone pressed against her ear as she maneuvered her backpack into her room, closing the door behind her with a foot. She placed her bookbag on her bed and supported her cell phone with her hand rather than her face once her hands were free. "I thought _that_ was a given."

"Well, do you remember what the invitation said?"

"Something along the lines of, 'We're having a party—and you happen to be invited.'"

Tucker snickered. "Ghosts aren't particularly tactful, are they?"

"Well, I bet _some_ are..."

"Clockwork doesn't count," Tucker asserted. "She's weird."

Danny sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "True that."

"So...while you might be dreading the Halloween party, what are _else_ are you going to do this weekend?"

The way Tucker said _else_ made Danny blush slightly. "Tuck..."

"Maybe I should say _who_ else?" Tucker said slyly, making Danny face heat up exponentially.

"Tucker!" Danny hissed heatedly. "I...she..." Danny ended up scowling at the computer that sat innocently on her desk.

"_Relax_, Danny," Tucker murmured. "You know I tease." There was a short paused before Tucker said, "Unless you're not telling me something?"

Danny stared at the phone.

_Is Tucker insinuating...?_

"...What?"

Tucker's laugh on the other end was infuriating and confirmed what Danny was thinking.

"Tucker."

"Yeah."

"Aside from my ghost powers, how good am I at hiding things?"

"You suck at it."

"So if things had progressed that far, I think you would've noticed," Danny finished dryly as she unpacked her belongings with one hand.

Danny imagined Tucker doing her "sage nod" as she murmured, "True, true."

"_Anyway_," Danny said, dragging the conversation away from her relationship with a particular billionaire, "what are _you_ planning on doing this weekend?"


	150. 103009: Dream

**Disclaimer**: Demanding letters didn't help much. Lawyers were threatened if I persisted.

**89 Dream**

Danny woke from a dream feeling flustered and embarrassed, face burning in a deep, hot blush.

_Oh, I am _so_ glad I'm not a guy,_ she thought as she shifted uneasily in her bed, pulling the blankets around her a little more tightly and burying her face in the pillow.

_Please tell me I didn't say anything or _do_ anything. I don't think I could live it down..._

For the first time in her life, Danny could grumble: _Stupid hormones._

She supposed it was inevitable, considering how her thoughts, when not occupied with other things, had been centered on Vlad for the past week.

_Still_...

She squirmed in her bed, her body _aching_ in want, desperate to be touched and manipulated by the woman she had entwined herself with.

Unfortunately, she couldn't just pop into the billionaire's home, seek out the woman, and beg—because she _knew_ she'd beg, no matter how demeaning—for the woman's caresses, for her kisses, for _anything_ to soothe the needy tension in her body.

_Knowing Vlad, she might just deny me, just to see how I'd react._ Danny paused and sighed gustily into her pillow. _I don't know if she'd like how I react, 'cause I _know_ how that would go down if she was her typical coy, manipulative, seductive self._

Snippets of the dream drifted lightly through her mind and she shivered. _This is going to haunt me _all day_ isn't it?_

She rolled onto her side and looked out at the pre-dawn light, and a thought slowly drifted through her mind. _I won't be able to celebrate her birthday _on_ her birthday, since who knows how ghosts would react to that. So...I guess Sunday? Not today—I still have, y'know, classes and stuff. Sunday it is, then._

The resolution didn't make Danny feel any better—instead, it made her want to swing by the billionare's home even more, if just to bid a happy early birthday and—

Danny let out a long, dejected breath.

_Crap, Danny. _Try_ to focus today, ok? _

Although Danny had a feeling it would be an uphill battle, considering how her day was starting.


	151. 103109: Music

**Author**: Long chapter is long. :) This is why I like weekends.

**Disclaimer**: Apparently people don't take well to love letters. I'm glad I sent them from a fake address.

**161 Music**

Danny was amused to discover that the music for the "party" was provided be Ember—along with a number of other ghosts whom Danny had never met.

"Who _are_ all these ghosts?" Danny murmured quietly, and jumped at the small chuckle beside her. She whirled to see Vlad smirking at her before turning her gaze away from Danny.

"The Ghost Zone is quite extensive. I've never managed to explore all its hidden places, regardless of the Map of Infinity. You saw how it took us to a number of different times and places. Even such an artifact doesn't know the entirety of the Ghost Zone."

"So...you're saying that all these ghosts actually _live_ her and I just haven't met them?"

Vlad arched an eyebrow slightly. "You and I are curiosities, Danielle. Most ghosts are content to observe and leave us alone. Only a select few are stupid enough to test our abilities."

Danny frowned and shifted on her feet. "Still..." the frown shifted into a puzzled look. "A lot of them look like they don't want to be here."

"Most don't. This isn't so much a party as a get-together for mutual protection."

Danny looked at Vlad sharply. "What?"

"Halloween is a time when the lines between the spirit world, the Ghost Zone, and the human world are thinnest."

"Wait, wait, there's a spirit world?"

Vlad nodded slightly. "As you can see, not every human death is powerful enough to create a ghost. Where do all those spirits go, then?" She paused, turning something over in her head before continuing: "The spirit world also houses some really nasty things that think ghosts are...for lack of a better word, _tasty_. Ghosts used to just go to ground and hide as best they could, but a significant number were picked off every year. Then, they discovered that having them all congregate in one place gives the impression of one very big, very powerful ghost that most spirits don't want to tangle with. Since then, this."

"It does seem less of a 'party' and more of a...gathering?"

Vlad nodded, then looked at Danny with consideration on her features. "You said you were interested in finding about the other ghosts? Now is your best opportunity. They're not allowed to hurt you, you're not allowed to hurt them."

Danny hesitated and Vlad gave her a gentle push towards the co-mingling packs of ghosts, earning the older half-ghost a glare before Danny proceeded forward.

The music that was going on became background noise as Danny wandered through the numbers ghosts, earning her more than a few hostile glances, while others took the time to speak to her, and some ignored her entirely.

It was very much like high school.

She was oddly relieved to see Clockwork there.

"Hey," she greeted the Ghost of Time.

Clockwork nodded slightly. "Danielle."

"What are you doing here? I would think you'd be safe in your castle?"

Clockwork gave Danny her small, enigmatic smile. "While my abode has kept me safe in past years, and will continue to, it would be best for me to be here this year."

Danny frowned and was about to ask a question when the world suddenly shifted and warped around her, and she distantly heard the surprised cries of other ghosts. Danny felt pulled and pushed in a thousand different directions, her mind spinning, her body seeming to unravel.

_He smiled at Sam and stood close to her, putting his arm around her body and looking down at the miracle she held in her arms._

"_He has your eyes," he murmured quietly in his wife's ear._

_The woman chuckled and asked, "What should we name him...?"_

_He whirled on the frootloop, and he just barely caught her punch, his eyes impassive. _

"_You don't _get_ it, do you? What do I have left with them gone? _Who_ am I now that my family, my friends, everyone who was _important_ to me is gone?"_

"_You have me."_

_He was briefly stunned and his mouth moved without sound..._

_He hovered over a field of corpses, buildings smoldering in the distance, pained cries of those dying slow deaths bled out on the ashen ground around them. He saw bodies torn in half, wanton destruction all around him, and it was _good_._

"_You'll pay for this!"_

_He turned around and gave the woman behind him a toothy grin, "Ah, Valerie..."_

_Her body was alight with pain, and she cried out in despair, straining against the bonds that held her down._

"_What did you do with our daughter?" came the harsh demand from a voice she could only barely place anymore._

_She felt herself unraveling, molecule by molecule, and could think of nothing except the pain..._

_He nuzzled a chocolate colored neck, and a soft chuckle came from the young woman he held in his arms. _

"_I'm glad you got over that...that you believed me..." he whispered._

"_Yeah, well, it's _you_. The fact that you also helped us rebuild after Vlad did—"_

_He shook his head. "Don't mention him. He's gone."_

"_I dunno. What if he _is_ still out there..."_

_He was horrified as he looked up and saw a very familiar body covering his own, protecting him. _

"_V-Vlad?" he stammered. It was a second later that he was forced to catch the man's body in his arms, gently lowering him to the ground in his embrace. _

"_Vlad! What was that for?"_

_He had always been the target of extremists once his half-ghost identity came out, but he tended to be rather adept at avoiding them._

_Not this time, though. _

_And now..._

"_Daniel?"_

"_Yes?" he asked hurriedly, as he saw a deep red stain slowly spreading from under the black of Vlad's suit jacket._

"_I'm glad you're safe..."_

_She hovered over her family and friends, invisible and intangible, and smiled wryly, bitterly, as her casket was placed in the earth, her mother's large form vibrating in sobs and soul-deep grief. Tucker and Sam were standing beside her, slow, silent tears flowing down Tucker's face as Sam was trying his best not to cry. _

_Vlad was there, too, face blank and posture relaxed, which told Danny that she was perhaps the one most deeply touched. She only got that closed off when she was dealing with an emotion she didn't feel like facing._

_She turned away from the scene, unable to bear the grief that refused to touch her any longer..._

_He hated it. Hated him. Hated him for winning, for making him his slave. He had to obey every command the man issued, for who was he to deny the man who ruled the world anything?_

_The most horrific part, though, was how it looked like he wasn't going to abdicate any time soon. Every assassination attempt had failed, making the man stronger, more resilient, and more adept at recognizing a threat to his life. It drove him crazy, and he hoped that one day, one day..._

_She loved it. Loved her. Loved her for making her feel _alive_, for making her feel wanted, and beautiful. How could she deny her anything, regardless of how far she had fallen? She would never leave her, simply because she didn't _want_ to. She had protected her against every attempt on her life—and there had been many—for the sake of the second chance she desperately wanted the woman to have. It drove her crazy, how people couldn't see beyond the past, and hoped that one day, one day..._

_She found herself looking at a familiar face, a familiar build, familiar clothes, familiar hairstyle...the person across from her could have been her double._

_If not for the fact that he was male._

"_Who are you?" she asked, curious._

_He gave her an incredulous look. "I was about to ask the same thing."_

_Danny frowned. "I'm Danny Fenton. You?"_

_The young man was giving her the most shocked of stares. "But..._I'm_ Danny Fenton..."_

_The image faded to be replaced by the feeling of a deep, yawning emptiness, nothing and no-one around her, the silence complete. _

_Dark, hot hands grabbed her from behind and pulled her flush against a body, making Danny cry out in surprise and struggle to go intangible—only to find that her abilities had deserted her._

"_You are..._interesting,_" a voice murmured in her ear, the hands moving across her body, causing Danny's breath to hitch. "Why do you hide who you are? Your ferocity, your _power_...is beautiful."_

_Lips pressed against Danny's neck and she shivered. "S-stop!" she demanded and struggled against the hold that held her tightly, barely able to move...and not quite sure she wanted to._

"_Stop?" the presence behind her asked almost coyly. "But I've just gotten started."_

_Danny screamed in frustration as her body trembled in pleasure and rage, as the presence behind her whispered dark secrets to her soul, things that would take root and consume her—_

_Before a hand she was more familiar with grabbed the appendage of the one keeping her immobile._

_She nearly melted with relief at the sight of Clockwork, although she had never seen such an expression of loathing and hatred on the usually impassive ghost's face._

"_She is not _yours_," Clockwork snarled and a surge of energy transferred from the ghost of time to whatever was holding Danny, forcing Danny's release. The ghost took Danny quickly away, cradling her against her body, the hand that held her staff pointing it at the being that was still indistinct in the shadows. _

"_You won't be able to free her of me ever—you are too late," the presence sneered. _

_Clockwork smiled that quiet, enigmatic smile. "You never did understand the power you seek to manipulate."_

"_She is the first step! I _will_ be freed! And then there will be _nothing_ you can do to stop me!_"

_Clockwork's smile became a smirk. "Go back to your hole. You will not trouble the Ghost zone or human world."_

"_Not _yet_," the presence snarled. "But I _will_ find a way out of this time lock—I already am. And then I will undo all your hard work, as you undid mine."_

"_You will try."_

_A beam of energy shot out of the ghost's staff to hit the presence in its center, making it scream as symbols that Danny vaguely recalled being glyphs of binding skittered across the still indiscernible presence, forcing it smaller and smaller until it vanished. _

_Danny looked up at Clockwork, who gave her a small smile._

"_What did it mean, that you won't be able to get rid of her from me?"_

"_Just that—I will be unable to remove what she told you from your heart and soul...but there _is_ someone who can." _

"_Vlad," Danny whispered, absolutely sure of the answer._

"_If you say so," Clockwork replied. "Now, let us get out of this loop—the others will be coming out shortly as well, and if you want to keep your disguise up, you will need a moment or two."_

Substance reformed around Danny, she feeling anchored and _physical_ again. She took a deep breath and forced her appearance to shift to good 'ol Danny Phantom as other ghosts slowly struggled back to reality, some only barely flickering into solidity.

Danny remained in Clockwork's embrace for a second, trying to gather her scrambled wits so she could walk without staggering.

A thought hit her that made her panic. "Is Vlad alright?" she asked the ghost of time, a note of fear in her voice.

"Go find her," Clockwork murmured and released Danny, who quickly walked to where she had left Vlad, her eyes roaming the mass of ghosts that were slowly recovering.

She finally found the woman barely standing, leaning heavily against a table beside her.

"_Vlad!_" Danny half-cried and ran up to the woman, taking her in her arms, holding her tightly. That the woman clung to her almost as desperately went unnoticed, as Danny was simply glad that the billionaire was alright.

Danny pulled back enough to look into Vlad's tired, red eyes. "Are you alright?" Danny asked quietly.

"Could be better," Vlad murmured, voice slightly hoarse.

"We're leaving," Danny said resolutely and opened a portal beside them that led to Vlad's house, and stepped through, closing it behind her.

Vlad almost immediately fell out of her ghost form, body trembling and obviously exhausted.

Danny's ghost form also fell easily away, her energy reserves almost nothing.

With a combined effort, she and Vlad managed to find their way to the closest bedroom, and Danny helped Vlad collapse onto the mattress, the woman obviously not minding how weak she appeared.

"Vlad," Danny whispered softly, taking the tie out of Vlad's hair.

"Yes?" Vlad replied equally quietly.

"Can I stay with you? Today?"

Vlad's eyes slipped over to Danny's, and gave her a small smile. "Do you honestly think I'd object?"

Danny's smile was shaky, but relieved.

She had just enough energy to yank both hers and Vlad's shoes off before she climbed into bed next to Vlad and phase them through the covers before she turned on her side to put an arm across Vlad's stomach, as she needed the contact to assure her that whatever had molested her was gone, and all that was left was the solidity and human-ness that was Vlad.

Vlad smiled faintly and turned towards Danny, as she obviously needed the reassurance of contact as well, her hand resting on Danny's hip.

"You won't leave?" Vlad murmured, fear an undercurrent in her voice.

"I'm yours," Danny replied, utterly and completely sincere.

"Good."

With Vlad next to her, all memories of that ethereal, terrifying presence fled, leaving Danny in peace to fall gently into exhausted sleep, Vlad in her arms, and she in Vlad's.


	152. 110109: Comfort

**Author**: Here's the next chapter. It's kinda funny that I can write such fluff when I myself feel like such shit...

**Disclaimer**: DP will be mine when Vlad owns the Packers.

**73 Comfort**

Danny wasn't quite sure how long she stayed tucked next to Vlad, the woman gently caressing her back, offering comfort more than anything else.

"What did _you_ see?" Danny asked eventually, once Vlad had dragged what had happened to Danny out of the younger half ghost.

Vlad was quiet for a while, but Danny didn't mind. She knew that the billionaire would answer—eventually. Until then, Danny was content to snuggle, feeling Vlad's body heat against her own lowered temperature, reveling in the contact. That the billionaire didn't seem to mind was also a good thing.

"Danny, how evil do you think I am?"

Danny blinked, then frowned. "What?"

"Just answer the question."

Vlad's voice was flat and brooked no argument, and since Danny wanted to know what lead to the comment...

"Well, on a scale from 1-10, where 1 is putting bubble-gum in someone's hair to 10 which is genocide, I'd say you're a 3, 4-ish."

"Why?  
Danny shrugged lightly. "You use people for your own gain, manipulate events to your liking regardless of the fallout for other people, worm your way out of situations that would have caught someone a long, long time ago, are not beyond physical or psychological force, and have, on more than one occasion, attempted homicide. You might have succeeded in the past. Don't tell me if you have. So I guess you're more 4-ish." Danny paused. "But you're asking someone with a particular set of morals. If you ask someone else, you'll probably be more or less evil." Danny tilted her head to look Vlad in the eyes. "But you're not _all_ evil, if that's what you're asking."

"I would have thought I would be farther down on your scale."

"If you had asked me a year or so ago, you would have been. But, perspectives change. You're also a very sweet woman, and if you just let that cynical, bitter, cold shell fall away, everyone would see the person that I see. The one who makes me feel alive and beautiful. The woman who trained me in a skill that I _need,_ who gave me a job for the hell of it, bought me things, and has protected and helped me when I got in over my head."

Danny gently, lightly kissed Vlad, the gesture reassuring and loving, breaking the kiss before whispering: "She's the woman I've fallen for, who gave me my body, and to whom I'm glad to return it. As it is mine, so is it yours, for while I own it, while I live in it, you're the reason I have it."

"I didn't know you were so poetic."

Danny grinned. "I bet even with all your spying there _are_ some things you don't know about me."

A odd, sly, playful glimmer briefly flashed through Vlad's eyes. "Oh really now?"

Danny groaned inwardly in defeat. _Why must she use _that_ voice?_ She thought in despair. "Yes, really," Danny replied aloud.

"Then I must see about learning those," Vlad purred, her lips just inches from Danny, the feeling of her caresses seeming to change ever-so-slightly, making Danny want to squirm. "I have to get back to school," Danny said quickly, breathlessly. "I still h-have homework to do."

"It can wait."

"Bu—"

"We never did celebrate my birthday. Yesterday was...not conducive to celebration."

_Oh, damn_, Danny muttered inwardly. "No, it wasn't," Danny sighed in defeat. "What do you want?"

"Spend the day with me. We're not going to go anywhere, do anything. Just...stay here. I'm sure there are places you haven't seen of my mansion...and if you want, you can bring your homework here and I'll help you on it."

Danny's eyebrows snapped up. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

Danny's lips twitched in a smile that slowly grew. Spending time with the billionaire wouldn't be a bad thing, and having Vlad help her on her homework was a _really_ _good_ thing.

"Promise more helping and less distracting?"

Vlad couldn't entirely suppress her smirk. "I'll do my best."

Danny laughed and gave Vlad a kiss that quickly became more heated than Danny had intended, Danny moaning at the woman's manipulation of her senses, responding with equal passion, her entire body tingling with sensation.

When the kiss finally broke, Danny was breathless, every fiber of her being saying that it wasn't nearly enough that she _needed_ more than that—

Danny gave Vlad a long, languid smile and said, "I think you've given a very convincing reason to come back."

"I always am rather persuasive."

Danny snickered as she phased out of the bed, scowling at her clothing. Apparently sleeping in them hadn't been the best idea. "I'll be back once I've showered, got new clothes, and retrieved my homework."

She was half-dreading Jewel's reaction, but figured it was inevitable.

_Might as well get it over with._

Danny took a deep breath and teleported away to her dorm room to get the supplies she would need for a leisurely day with Vlad.


	153. 110209: Sex

**Author**: This place should stop being a place for me bitching. Instead, enjoy the story!

**Disclaimer**: Ahahahaha.

**32 Sex**

"Wait, you spent the _entire day_ with Vlad for her birthday and you passed up a prime opportunity to have birthday sex with her?"

"_Tucker!_"

"What?"

Danny sputtered incoherently for a minute before sighing and running a hand through her hair. "You have such a dirty mind."

Tucker snickered. "Even though you have _Vlad_, you're still remarkably innocent."

"_Innocent?_" Danny half-exclaimed.

"Yup," Tucker affirmed. "I'm actually kinda glad that you have Vlad—she's got enough influence to keep you safe if your obliviousness gets in the way of your survival."

Danny scowled at the roof, avoiding Tucker's gaze. "I'm not _that_ bad. Not anymore."

"You still need watching over."

"Why? I'm a big girl! Hells, I have a—"

"It's not that I think you can't take care of yourself—you've been doing that since _high school_. I just think that you're still too nice for your own good."

Danny shifted, not quite sure how to take that comment. "What?"

Tucker gave her a small, wry smile. "You'll figure it out. _Anyway_, aside from missing a perfect opportunity for some probably wild sex, how're you doing? How was the ghost Halloween party?"


	154. 110309: Truth

**Author**: Why yes. Yes, I do enjoy making Danny's life difficult.

**Disclaimer**: Nope.

**165 Truth**

"Ok, Clockwork, I want the truth. I know you don't _lie_ to me, but you'll intentionally leave things out so I can undergo a 'learning experience.' This is not one of those times."

Clockwork looked at her, face as impassive as usual before she sighed.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because she molested me! And said I was only the first step in something! And that she'd undo all your work or something! I think that I deserve an answer."

Clockwork paused for a moment before her shoulders slumped slightly. "It is inevitable. You would find out one way or another, and I'd like you to hear my version, as it is less biased than hers." The ghost gestured for Danny to take a seat on a chair Danny hadn't seen a moment before—it looked quite comfortable, so Danny figured she was in for quite the tale. She plopped herself down and looked expectantly at Clockwork.

"Who is she?" Danny half-demanded.

The ghost of time began after a moment to think. "She's old—older than I. Older than time. She's potential, she's expansion, drive, need. She was the cause of the inflationary period of this universe—she got a little out of hand. She is why the universe is accelerating. She can be contained, but not controlled. If I hadn't been 'born' the moment she broke free of the previous cage she had been held in, this universe, this reality, might have been ripped to shreds as previous ones had been."

"So, she's evil?"

"Not as you would define it," Clockwork replied, setting her staff against the wall. "Her desires aren't evil, per se. Humans—_all_ life—contain some of the traits she does. A striving for something _more_, to explore and unveil things just beyond perception. If something gets in the way, she just removes it, regardless of what it might be." Clockwork tilted her head. "Much as the settlers from Europe did to the native people of the Americas."

Danny rubbed the back of her neck in sheepishness. "Yeah, well..."

"She is ambition—and ambition is not evil. However, it _can_ be destructive."

"So, what does that make you?"

Clockwork shrugged slightly. "Temperance, in a manner. I can see the time-stream to fix the little snarls that come up every now and then, due to someone else knowing how to manipulate time—to an extent, of course, as true time manipulation is outside of every ken save mine. I am that nagging voice that asks if what you are planning is a good idea, I am why people like routines and find comfort in familiarity. I am why people seek the order in things, search for patterns and understanding. As ambition is not always evil, so is what I represent not always good—it could lead to stagnation, lassitude."

"So...you caught her and caged her and now she's trying to get out?"

"She always been trying to get out. It was just a matter of—"

"Time," Danny groaned. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

Clockwork's expression never changed, although Danny could tell the ghost was amused.

"What does she want with _me_?" Danny asked.

Clockwork shrugged. Actually _shrugged_. "As I said—she is older than I, and is the one I was created to oppose. I know not her motivation, and if I did, I wouldn't be able to truly understand it. But I _can_ make an ansatz."

"A what?"

"An educated guess."

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Danny exclaimed before blinking and sighing. "Nevermind. So...why does she want me?"

"For your body."

"WHAT?"

Clockwork sighed. "She's a being of energy, more so than even I. She can take no physical form because it's denied to her—if she ever got her hands on one, the world would be...well, it wouldn't be pretty. As _you_ are mostly energy, being ¾ ghost, she would be able to use the other ¼ of you, your physical human form, to make a presence in the corporeal world."

Danny ran a hand through her hair. "And we can stop that _how_?"

"Well, first we have to remove her from you," Clockwork said and lightly poked Danny's chest with her staff. "She placed a small seed of herself within you, that, if given time, will grow to consume Danny and replace it with her."

Danny paled. "Seriously?"

Clockwork cocked an eyebrow and Danny sighed.

"What can we do?" Danny asked, a desperate undertone to her voice.

"What can _you_ do, is the question. You have until the winter solstice to figure out a way to get what she placed within you out."

"Or else...?"

"We lose both Danielle Fenton and Danny Phantom."

Danny groaned and put her head in her hands. "Life can never be easy for me."

She felt Clockwork put a gentle hand on her back.

"If it's any consolation, your brother and parents will accept you. This I know for certain."

Danny looked up at the ghost as she withdrew her hand, Clockwork floating over to one of the man clocks on her walls. "Now, I believe you should get back to your college. I've slowed down time, but it would be...unwise...of me to keep it that way any longer."

Danny nodded slowly, Clockwork's statement running around in her head as she stepped through the portal, returning to the human world.


	155. 110409: Dawn

**Author**: Early update so I can focus on more important things in the afternoon. ^_^b

**Disclaimer**: mm-hm...

**146 Dawn**

Danny wasn't often awake at dawn. She enjoyed her sleep, and now that ghosts were bothering her again, she needed every minute.

But what Clockwork had told her the day before was still a little hard to swallow, so she found herself sitting on the roof of her dorm, watching the sun rise, deep in her thoughts.

It wasn't the 'someone wants to use your body to wreck havoc on the world' thing that was bothering her. She had life-and-death (undeath-and-death?) experiences on a nearly daily basis, so dealing with a creature that wanted to take over her wasn't as alarming as it probably should have been.

No, it was Clockwork's parting statement that had her mind running around in circles.

_If it's any consolation, your brother and parents will accept you. This I know for certain._

_Mom and dad and Jazz will be _okay_ with me being with Vlad?_ Danny thought incredulously. _I mean, mom, yeah, I can see her getting over the weird factor, but Jazz and dad...?_

Danny ran a hand through her hair and yawned. _No use obsessing over it. It'll obviously happen, eventually. Guess I'll just have to deal with the fall-out when it comes. _Danny paused. _Although I _am_ going to drag Vlad into helping me explain. She's better with words than I._

With that small resolution, Danny sunk, invisible and intangible, back to her room to catch a half-hour more of sleep before she had to _really_ start her day.


	156. 110509: Chair

**Author**: ... /cough Year-long, huh? Aaaand it happens to be 2012 now. Light, I'm terrible at these things.

**Disclaimer**: hahahaha

**104 Chair**

Danny slumped down in her chair, the piece of furniture balancing carefully on its back two legs as her feet were propped up on the edge of her desk. She lightly chewed at her lip as she looked at the problem that lay on her lap, the numbers staring back at her, incomprehensible.

It didn't help that she couldn't focus.

_When should I tell them?_ She wondered as she tapped her pencil against the paper. _Thanksgiving? We could invite Vlad over…or she could invite us. I think she'd have better food. Mom'll say 'yes' immediately to that, Jazz will give me a suspicious look, and dad might take a little convincing. While Vlad _has_ left mom alone, well…history._

She shifted so that her chair came back to the ground with _thud_ and placed the piece of homework on the top of her closed laptop. She cupped her face in her hands, looking out the window that was before her desk, the dreary weather of Novemeber descending upon them.

_Should I have Tucker with me? She'll stand up for me. There is no way in _hell_ I'm inviting Sam. He'd…that'd turn ugly. Really, _really,_ fast._

She sat back in her chair again and rubbed her eyes. _But, that…should I worry about _that_ when apparently there's an age-old being inside me who is trying to take over my body for one reason or another._

Danny crossed her arms over her developing chest and sighed softly, glad that Jewel was out somewhere.

_Screw it, I'm calling Tuck._

Danny retrieved her cell phone through her backpack and flipped it open. Her finger hovered over the numbers before she mentally did the time change and her shoulders slumped. _Another time. This homework is due _tomorrow_ and I've barely started. All that can…it can wait. I'll figure it out later._

Danny leaned forward in her chair and picked up the paper again, trying once more to force the numbers and letters to make sense.


	157. 110609: Cold

**Author**: Woot?

**Disclaimer**: hahaha

**61 Cold**

November was beginning to wind up, the cold, gray weather settling in over the campus and people's moods. However, Danny wouldn't have noticed until she saw the person who sat beside her place a large, floofy, down coat on the seat-back of his chair. She looked down at her long-sleeve shirt and fall jacket and sighed inwardly.

_Do I _have_ any winter clothes that fit me?_ She wondered as she paid half-attention to what the professor was saying (the class was video-taped, anyway, so if there was anything she felt she needed to review, there was the internet).

_I'll have to check. Damn, that means another shopping trip,_ she thought darkly. _Not that Tucker will mind. Or Vlad. Depends on who isn't busy, because I sure as hell can't shop for myself, considering the disaster that was that one time I tried to shop for myself._

Danny suddenly shivered and scowled as she covertly looked around for the ghost that had entered the classroom.

_I suppose I had been too lucky,_ she thought coldly. _It was only a matter of time until one managed to bother me in class._

Danny covertly cloned herself and slipped away silently, invisible and intangible, to take care of the latest threat that had decided to try its hand against Danny Phantom.


	158. 110709 to 111409

**Author**: I'm going to update in weekly batches because, well...I'm terrible at daily updates. /sigh

**Disclaimer**: Really? _Really_?

**58 Blanket **(11/7/09)

Danny lay nearly motionless on her bed, her blankets tangled around her. She was nearly paralyzed from a dream she could only vaguely remember. Her limbs felt foreign, her body as if it wasn't quite her own. There was an odd disconnect, worse than those first few months when she had been adapting to being half-ghost.

She did her best to focus on her breathing, to feel the beating of her heart, the blood pounding her ears with rhythmic pulsations. She swallowed hard and let out a long, shivering breath.

_That wasn't a normal nightmare,_ she thought hazily. _It didn't have my family or friends, or Phantom, or Vlad in it. It was something else, something _worse_…although I can't think of what could be worse than Phantom._

Danielle opened her eyes slowly and sat up, a hand going to her head. _I'm tired of things being strange._

She looked around her room and forced her body to slowly unwind. Nothing was out of place. She could hear Jewel's steady, slow, sleep-breathing, and golden light from the streetlight filtered in through her small window. Someone walked down the hallway, the floor vibrating under groggy steps. She heard a car pass somewhere nearby, and muted drunken laughter wafted in from outside her dorm.

_What woke me up?_ She wondered, running a hand through her hair. She leaned against the wall behind her and crossed her arms, frowning slightly. _I feel like I should remember. I feel like it was something _important.

After a few minutes she jumped and swallowed a yelp of surprise.

It had been dark, and had brimmed with _potential._ She could feel the power of creation lying within her hands, straining against her will. But she _had_ to keep it contained, she couldn't let it escape her hands, and it was taking all of her mind and ghost-power to keep it contained.

Although _why_ it needed to be contained was beyond her. The tension left her uneasy, however, which was what had woken her.

Danny swallowed and rubbed her temples. _Go back to sleep,_ she told herself as she sunk back down onto her bed, rearranging her blankets around her. _You have enough to worry about._

**243 Embrace **(11/8/09)

Danny resented how comfortable it felt to be in Vlad's embrace, but she couldn't entirely bother to care, not with how she fit neatly beneath Vlad's chin, the woman's arms caging her in as Vlad read the newspaper and Danny did some reading for her writing seminar.

"Will you have Thanksgiving with my family?" Danny blurted out and nearly hit her forehead with her book. She had meant to ask in a slightly more politic way, but things never really went as planned with her.

She looked up to see Vlad giving her a curious look, although Danny could read the subtle hope in her eyes.

"You're serious?" Vlad asked.

Danny nodded. "Entirely."

"Have you spoken with your parents about that?"

"No," Danny confessed. "But mom'll be all for it. She'll bring dad around, and Jazz'll just have to deal with it."

Vlad looked away from Danny, although the slight curve of her lips said she was amused. "I'd offer my home, but your brother would immediately be up-in-arms about that."

Danny sighed and snuggled back into Vlad. "He doesn't trust you for good reason. You don't exactly have the best track record with my family's safety."

Vlad gave a very unladylike snort and shook her head. "You don't have to be polite about it—I've tried to kill you all at one point or another. That leaves a lasting impression, regardless of how naive and sweet your mother may be."

Danny felt Vlad's gaze fix on her and she looked away from her book to catch Vlad's eyes. "What?"

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why do _you_ trust me?"

Danny blinked. "I have no idea. I just…_do._ You're, um, important to me now, kinda. I…you…we're the only _true_ half-ghosts in this world, right? Dani doesn't count. And…" Danny swallowed and looked away, her fingers toying with the pages of her book. "I just _do_, okay? I know that you've tried to kill me, and mom, and Jazz, and Sam, and Tuck, and a lot of other people, sure. But…" Danny hesitated. "You're the only one I'll have left if I outlive my family and friends. If I don't trust you, I'll go crazy."

Danny felt Vlad's fingertips slide beneath her chin and tilt her head up to pull her into a gentle, sweet kiss that made Danny melt. When the kiss finally broke, Vlad said: "I promise I won't hurt anyone you love anymore."

"Really?" Danny asked breathlessly.

"I know you might think that my promise means little, but I do mean it in this case," Vlad murmured, and Danny snickered slightly.

"Alright, fine. I'll believe you this time. You'll come?"

Vlad sighed dramatically. "The things I do for you, Danielle."

Danny laughed and turned enough that she could gently wrap her arms around Vlad's shoulders. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. We have to get through Thanksgiving first."

"Heh," Danny murmured and lightly pressed her lips against Vlad's neck. "It'll be interesting, but I'm sure you'll survive."

"For your sanity, Danielle, I hope you're right."

**320 Telephone **(11/9/09)

"Wait, you invited _Vlad_ over for Thanksgiving at your place?" Tucker asked incredulously over the telephone.

"Well, yeah," Danny answered as she rubbed the back of her neck. _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea afterall._

"Why? I mean, won't things be strained between your dad and Jazz and her?"

Danny sighed. "I lived with a fairly large secret for three years. I'm _tired_ of secrets. Jazz has somehow attracted someone to him and I _know_ she's coming over. What's the addition of one more…whatever Vlad is."

"Mm-hm," Tucker hummed. "I can see your point. Still, won't that be…awkward?"

"I don't know," Danny muttered. "But Clockwork said…"

"Clockwork said…?"

"She said that it'd turn out okay. That they'd accept me. I want to believe her, that everything will end up being _fine_."

"She said nothing about it being initially so?"

"It took time for my parents to come to grips with my being half-ghost. I think it'll take some adjusting to this latest development, too. I can tell you right now that mom'll be fine with it, though."

"Why? Vlad was her best friend in college and has been trying after your dad for _years_. Why would she accept her daughter being involved with…?"

"Mom _believes_ in me. She thinks that I can handle being who I am and how I am. She was totally on-board with me wanting to take hormones, y'know."

"Jazz'll think you've lost your mind."

"I think he already thinks that," Danny grumbled, which made Tucker snicker.

"I wish you could come, but your family would have to come, too," Danny said. "And they don't need to know that."

"Girl, you just gave me an excuse to get out of going to my gramma's. I love her, but, _really._ So what if I like computers and video games and cool stuff?"

Danny cringed at the bitterness in Tucker's voice and said, "Well, I'll swing my idea past my parents today or tomorrow. I know they'll let you come. _Mi casa tu casa _type thing."

"You do that. Unfortunately for you, I've got class soon. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to continue this conversation with the Great Tucker Foley."

Danny snickered and said, "Later."

"Later," Tucker parroted and hung up.

Danny looked at her phone and sighed, a smile touching her lips. _Tucker, me, mom, dad, Jazz, Jazz's girlfriend…and Vlad. This will be _interesting_._

**197 Happiness** (11/10/09)

Danny was nearly bursting with happiness and could help but squirm in her chair, working _hard_ to suppress a smile.

_They said yes!_ She thought in jubilation.

It hadn't even taken much convincing.

"That sounds great!" Jack had exclaimed, and Danny could see the concern written on her father's face through the Skype window. "It'll be awesome to have old Vladdy here with us!"

"Jack, I don't know. We were thinking of inviting—"

"Nonsense! The rest of the family was around for Danny's graduation—they can wait for Christmas."

"But—"

"I'm gonna go call her now," Jack said and walked off to the kitchen to grab the non ecto-taminated phone.

Maddie sighed and looked back to Danny who was struggling not to grin. "Are you sure, Danny? You two have never really gotten along…"

"Working with her was an eye-opener. She's still a bitch, but a tolerable one."

Maddie tsked at Danny's language, but there was relief in his posture. "I'm glad you got over whatever was between you. _We_ will tell Jazz about our two other guests."

"He's bringing his girlfriend, right?"

"How did you—nevermind. Yes, from what I've heard, he's bringing his girlfriend. Don't pull any ghost tricks on her, young lady. Do you understand?"

Danny grinned. "Of course."

Maddie sighed in exasperation before he looked over his shoulder at Jack's enthusiastic exclaimation of "_VLADDY!_"

"She'll say yes?"

"I'm sure," Danny replied.

"Well, then," Maddie said, "we'll see you, Vlad, and Tucker for Thanksgiving."

Danny had said her good-byes before closing Skype and nearly cheering.

_This will either go really, really well, or really, _really_ bad._

Homework wasn't seeming so bad anymore.

**54 Expensive **(11/11/09)

"Food has no right to be so expensive," Danny grumbled as Jewel gave her a sympathetic smile, accepting the lo mein from her.

"The perils of bad dining hall food," Jewel lamented as Danny nodded somberly.

"I _hate_ it when they make fish," Danny grumbled as she moved stuff on her desk so she could put down her food without fear of it falling into anything.

"Ugh, it's not even _fish_," Jewel drawled and Danny suppressed a smile.

"Look, just because you can get fish that they _just_ killed in the back means nothing," Danny teased.

Jewel scoffed as she opened her box of noodles.

Danny flipped open the top of her kung pao chicken and stabbed a small bit of chicken, maneuvering around the vegetables.

**127 Fame** (11/12/09)

Danny couldn't help but reflect—again—that while ghosts had followed her to college, her fame had not. It was a _relief_ that no-one was constantly seeking her out, and allowed her to focus on her schoolwork instead of dodging both humans _and_ ghosts.

Although the thought brought back a brief memory of Val, which made Danny shudder. _I'm glad he hasn't followed me here. That would've made things tough._

She knocked the wood table before her in hopes of starving off that possibility.

**50 Pain **(11/13/09)

Danny curled in on herself in pain, breath knocked out of her. She was, thankfully, at Vlad's when it hit her, so she could collapse onto a fairly plush couch instead of hurting herself. She had left for the billionaire's after classes had finished, as she had plans for the entire weekend, but knew she couldn't skip her treatement.

_I must be developing some form of intuition,_ she thought hazily.

What she was enduring wasn't the same as the quiet, dull sense of her body growing, stretching to finally fill out into a young woman of 18. It felt as if something was trying to expand her body to fit a new shape, one that Danny was unfamiliar with. She could feel her ghost power fluctuating radically, and whether it was seeking to bury its way further into Danny's structure or separate itself entirely, she was unsure.

Through the veil of agony, she felt someone touch her, their hands a burning, _real_ sensation. She opened eyes she hadn't realized she had closed to see Vlad hovering over her, concern subtly written on her features.

"Vlad," Danny heard herself say, and was surprised at her own voice—she had never heard it so hoarse, even after she had dealt with the Ghostly Wail business.

"Danny, what's wrong?" Vlad asked before Danny pulled her down onto her, pressing her body against Vlad's to remind herself that there was something _beyond_ the pain. It slowly subsided until it wa simply the pressure of Vlad's body on her own, and the feel of her perfectly manicured hands running through her hair.

"Danielle?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah?" Danny replied, her voice exhausted.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I think…"  
Vlad looked at her expectantly.

"Remember the thing I told you about Halloween?"

Vlad frowned and thought for a moment before her eyebrows came together in worry. "About that chaos-being?"

Danny hesitantly nodded. "I think that, maybe…it's beginning to do things to me."

Vlad's hands tightened marginally on Danny's body. "Why didn't you tell me _sooner_?"

"It didn't seem to be a problem!" Danny protested as her hands rested lightly on Vlad's back.

"Well, it is now. What else have you been experiencing?"

"Vlad, maybe—"

"No. You're not going anywhere, and this might be the only way to keep you in one place. Tell me everything."

Danny paused, sighed, then complied.

**38 Work **(11/14/09)

"Come on, everyone needs a break from work _sometime._"

Danny fidgeted as she was dragged along, a sigh escaping her lips. "But—"

Jewel shot an amused look over to her as she adjusted her bag. "That includes superheroes."

Danny sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "You're starting to sound like Tuck."

"Who?"

"My best friend since…well, since I can remember."

Jewel smiled, "That's nice, having a friend that long. You guys still in touch?"

Danny nodded. "When we can. She's busy, I'm busy, she's on the west coast, I'm here, so…"

"It gets hard," Jewel finished for her. "Well, Thanksgiving is coming up soon. Think you'll be able to see each other?"

Danny smiled faintly. "We see each other fairly often, actually."

Jewel frowned. "How is th—oh."

Danny's smile grew. "Easier to keep in touch when it's only a flight away."


	159. 111509 to 112109

**Author**: I am awesome and continue to attempt this prompt. Maybe-_maybe_-I'll be able to get it this year.

**Disclaimer**: ahahaha.

**72 Shooting stars **(11/15/09)

Danny had always thought that 'shooting stars' was a rather elegant way of describing space-rocks burning up into nothing as they entered the Earth's atmosphere. It felt strange to 'wish upon a vaporizing space rock.'

**36 Lies **(11/16/09)

Danny sighed and bit her lip after she turned off the Skype chat.

_Lies. Always, always lies. I lied to them for almost 3 years, lied to Val for 4, and have continued to lie to the world. I…should I still lie about Vlad? Vlad is incredibly important to me, but I don't know how cool my parents will be with me having this weird whatever with a _woman_ who is _twenty plus_ years older than me._

Danny leaned back in her chair and laced her fingers together. _I've become very god at lying. _

The notion disturbed her, so she pushed away from the desk and changed into her ghost form, Jewel not even distracted by the flash of light.

"Don't stay out too late," she murmured as she read, and Danny smiled faintly.

"I won't, mother," she replied before becoming invisible and intangible, phasing out into the cold, bleak November sky, looking for some release in flight.

**147 Poker** (11/17/09)

Danny had a terrible poker face—this she had been told time and again by family, friends, and Vlad. So how she managed to convince the world of her normalcy was beyond her.

**71 Goodnight** (11/18/09)

"G'night."

"G'night," Danny replied as she pulled the covers around her. The week was dragging, and it was driving her insane. Each day seemed to last forever, and every day she was piled under more and more homework.

_It's probably because it's the week before Thanksgiving,_ she thought sourly. She turned onto her side to face the window, her face barely peeking out from under her blankets.

Numbers and letters ran circles in her head, regardless of how hard she tried to rein them in.

_I'm doomed. I'm so, so doomed. I'm _passing_ classes, but not with flying colors. What would my parents think of me if I flunked out of college?_

She paused, squirmed, then sighed, _What would _Vlad_ think of me?_

Danny licked her lips before she resolutely closed her eyes shut. _I _won't_ fail. I _won't_ fail. I _won't _fail._

Her shoulders tightened in the confines of her blankets as she thought, _I can't afford to._

**108 Sword** (11/19/09)

Danny yelped as she dodged a sword-stroke from a ghost she hadn't seen before. She wasn't entirely surprised that the heavily-armored ghost was unknown to her (there did, afterall, happen to be a lot of ghosts she hadn't met), but she _was_ surprised at how competent it was when fighting against her.

"Who are you?" Danny demanded as a hand went to her side to stop the flow of ectoplasmic blood.

"No time for introductions," the ghost answered cheerfully before going after Danny again, forcing Danny to pull up an ectoplasmic shield. The sword was turned aside, and the ghost was thrown off balance briefly—which was long enough for Danny to pull down the shield and cast it onto the sword instead, effectively 'dulling' the blade.

The ghost was obviously surprised, and pleasure briefly flickered across its face before anger overtook it.

"How _dare_ you—"

The ghost was interrupted by an ecto-blast to its head, and the cheer from the ground told Danny that Jewel had made the hit.

The ghost was obviously reeling from nearly having its head blown apart, which gave Danny ample time to catch it in the Fenton Thermos.

Danny landed and grinned at Jewel who was obviously ecstatic. "Fancy shooting, huh?" Jewel asked, pride coloring her voice.

"Yup," Danny replied before she looked around quickly and transformed back into her human form. The clock on campus tolled the hour and Danny swore colorfully while Jewel sighed.

"The test," Jewel supplied and Danny nodded as she quickly transformed back into her ghost form.

"I'll see you back at the dorm," Danny muttered before taking the quick way back to cram what knowledge she could fit into her skull.

**219 Lunch **(11/20/09)

"Don't look so depressed," Finn said as he poked Danny with the blunt end of his fork during lunch. "I'm sure you did fine."

Danny gave her overcooked carrots a dejected look before she sighed despondently. "Easy for you to say. You're the one who's planning on majoring in it."

"Yes, but—" Finn trailed off and hesitantly put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Look, I think you're smarter than you give yourself credit for being. And anyway, think on this—it's almost Thanksgiving break, and after that it's a _very_ short time to Winter break!"

Danny looked up at him as she put the fork down and sighed. "Well, I think I did good on Japanese."

"That's the spirit," Jewel chimed in.

Danny's shoulders slowly fell as she said, "And anyway, it's the weekend. What're you guys up for?"

**187 Right **(11/21/09)

"We should've made a right."

Danny quirked an eyebrow at Jewel. "No backseat driving when I'm flying. It can't be _that_ hard to find."

"I just don't want you to get exhausted," Jewel said as she pulled her coat tightly around her. "It's also kinda cold."

Danny frowned slightly before she slowly descended, making both he and Jewel invisible so as to not freak the general public out.

She set Jewel down lightly on the ground before she landed and turned human, returning to sight. "I think it's around this corner."

They moved to peak around the street and Jewel breathed a sigh of relief when they caught sight of the group they were to meet. "Let's go. I'm _starving._"

Danny smiled in chagrin before following Jewel as she caught the attention of their mutual friends.


	160. 112209 to 112809

**Author**: And with these drabbles I have managed to lurch Daniel out of the recesses of my harddrive and mind. Not like he and Danny here have any kind of remote relationship. It's just the fandom and writing practice.

**Disclaimer**: An episode featuring the entire cast as gender-bent would have occurred in the series if I owned it. being as I am writing this and DP is long canceled...well.

**354 sunrise (11/22/09)**

Danny watched the sunrise from amidst the ice that formed on the roof of her dorm, sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. It was getting harder to sleep when the _thing_ inside her really was growing. Vlad had taken some blood and ectoplasm samples, had listened to everything Danny told her, and had run—with Danny's permission—a few tests of her own design on both human and ghostly forms.

Whatever it was that had taken root in Danny, she wanted it out.

Danny rubbed her face in frustration. _She can't figure out where it is. Unreachable in either ghost or human form, something that is part of me that can't be distinguished from anything else…_

_"You won't be able to free her of me ever—you are too late."_

_"You never did understand the power you seek to manipulate."_

_"She is the first step! I will be freed! And then there will be nothing you can do to stop me!"_

Danny clutched at her forehead, a shiver trembling through her. "I will not let it happen. Whatever that thing is planning, whatever it's trying to do inside of me, I won't let it happen. I told Clockwork I wouldn't, I told Vlad I wouldn't. So I _won't._"

Danny watched her words disappear in the fog from the breath that left her mouth before she looked towards the sunrise.

_Everything will work out. With the thing inside me, with Vlad…and with my family._

**364 close (11/23/09)**

"Look at how many people aren't here," Finn murmured, leaning in close to Danny, who snickered quietly.

While Thanksgiving break technically didn't begin until Wednesday, the place was nearly deserted already, and it would only get worse the next day.

"Can't imagine why they'd want to get away from here," Danny replied lightly, which made Finn cough to cover a laugh.

"I know, right? Such great ambiance and weather. Who'd want to leave?"

Danny leaned away and twirled her pencil in her fingers as the professor lectured. Break was so close that she could almost _taste_ it, and she was both looking forward to and dreading it. Break meant that she could be with her family, ignore her homework for a few days, and beat up on familiar ghosts who sought to interrupt her vacation.

However, it also meant that she should tell her parents about she and Vlad being…whatever they were, and she had no idea how to phrase it.

Danny lightly chewed her lip as she took absent notes, amused by how Finn was barely staying awake beside her.

_We all need this vacation. And then to think Winter Vacation is just around the corner…_

Danny's stomach dropped from under her as any smile faded. _And I have to find a way to get this _thing_ out of me before the Solstice or else…_

Danny swallowed and tried to shake herself free of her musings and focus on the present, which included a rather dry lecture on classical mechanics.

**82 Porn** **(11/24/09)**

Danny shut down her computer and squirmed uncomfortably in her seat in embarrassment.

_What on earth made me think that would be a _good_ idea?_

With her roommate gone and thoughts of Vlad bothering her, Danny had realized that she had only a vague understanding of what sex _was_. Sure, she had seen R-rated movies (you can't stop a ghost from getting into a movie theatre if she wanted to be there) and had a vague idea of the whole thing, but most of it was, well, heterosexual and vague.

She sure as hell wasn't going to be caught in any store or section of a major chain, and she doubted that there were many, 'how to have lesbian sex' help books out there. So, she turned to the most dangerous and unreliable source of information available at her fingertips: the Internet.

She had immediately ruled out any porn sites (she didn't want viruses), and so had cautiously embarked on a Google-search powered query into a topic she didn't dare ask anyone about (save anonymous strangers on the internet who she would, in all likelihood, never meet).

She had come away embarrassed and traumatized.

_Stupid, Danny, _stupid._ If that ever came up with Vlad, she'd probably know what to do anyway, so—_

Danny's mind briefly hitched as her mind attempted to piece together the concept of Vlad and sex, followed by 'what would Vlad look like naked?'

Danny swallowed hard and stood, trying to use packing for her trip home as an excuse to distract herself.

Unfortunately, her mind refused to let go of figuring out what Vlad would look like _naked_.

Danny looked down at herself, at her body that had matured by unfortunate leaps and bounds since she had been away from Amity and shifted uneasily on her feet.

Vlad's clothing was tailored to her body, so Danny had no doubt as to the woman's _shape_. But it was more than just shape, it was _form_, it was what it would be like to run her hands over her, to see the shade of her skin, to feel the difference between hands exposed to the elements and stomach only exposed in the privacy of her own home, it would—

Danny smacked herself and scowled at nothing.

_I leave for home tomorrow and see Vlad the next day. What will happen will happen and…_

Danny sighed heavily as she forced the thought of Vlad once again out of her mind, focusing on what homework she had left to do.

**141 Ghost (11/25/09)**

"GHOST!" Danny's mother yelled as Danny came in through the Fenton portal and Danny could only laugh as she dodged an ecto-ray from one of her mother's many weapons.

"Mom, it's okay. Just me."

Jack blinked and froze for a moment before she put the gun down and grinned at her daughter, pulling her into a crushing hug. "Danny! We've missed you!"

Danny smiled and transformed back into her human self, watching as her mother's body adjusted to her now-solid body.

Danny was put down, but her mother's hands never left her shoulders. "Are dad and Jazz around?"

"Upstairs, waiting for you. Thought you'd come in the door, but you took the short-short-cut, huh?"

Danny smiled as her mother dragged her up the stairs from the lab and snickered as Jack shouted, "I FOUND DANNY!"

Danny smiled as her dad and brother came into the kitchen, and laughed as she was passed around the family members.

_Everything will be fine. Everything will turn out alright. I don't have to worry._

**303 Control (11/26/09)  
**

Danny squirmed as she paced her room, having made the excuse of needing to go to the bathroom to get away from the table.

_C'mon, Danny, stay in control. You've survived this far and you _have_ to tell them sometime._

Danny scratched her head vigorously and sighed in despair. _Maybe this wasn't the best idea. But I'm _tired_ of secrets. Might as well be blunt about it, really. It works best that way._

'_Mom, Dad, Jazz, I have something to tell you—Vlad's become _really, really_ important in my life. I can't imagine it without her anymore, not _being_ with her anymore. So, yeah. I'm not going to let go of her anytime soon, so you'll just have to accept it.'_

Danny winced. _That sounds terrible._

Danny sighed, turned, and walked out of her room and down to the dining room.

It was odd, having Vlad there, but odd in a good way. Sure, Tucker had been invited over before, as had the opposite been true. However, it was more likely to _not_ have Thanksgiving in the Danny's house as likely, due to having a Ghost Portal beneath the kitchen. The frequency had decreased with increasing family size and ghost obsession, however. Before that Thanksgiving, they had spent all of them since Danny was 12 at relatives' houses. There was less of a chance the food would try to eat them there.

Vlad seemed to know she had come, since Danny received a covert half-smile half-smirk that made Danny squirm.

_I need to tell them. I _must_ tell them._

However, once she sat down, her courage fled her, leaving her listless and terrified.

_They'll be okay with it, why can't I say anything?_

Danny felt Vlad put a gentle hand on her thigh under the table, which made Danny look over to the half-ghost quickly.

There was a small, wry smile on her lips that said: _If you don't want to, if you're not ready, then you don't have to tell them._

Danny looked away, put a hand over Vlad's and swallowed hard.

_Okay, Danny. You can do this. You've fought down infinitely powerful ghosts, you've deal with situations that would have killed other people. If you've survived all that, you can sure as hell survive this. _

"Hey, Mom? Dad? I have something I want to tell you."

**202 Smile** **(11/27/09)**

"You know, girl, it's nice to see you sporting a _real_ smile. I'm not sure the last time I saw you with a genuine grin," Tucker said as they browed a video game store in the local mall.

Danny chuckled quietly as she examined a package advertising the newest video games. "It has been a while, huh?"

"You glad you got that all over with?"

"You have no idea," Danny sighed. "I've had enough of secrets to last my whole life."

"Was good that you had Vlad there, though," Tucker murmured as she looked at a console wistfully. "Don't think your dad and Jazz would've taken you entirely seriously. But—_gawd_ I can't believe I'm saying this—you and Vlad actually make a good couple."

"You think so?" Danny asked, fighting down a blush but unable to stop the small, soft smile that crossed her lips.

Tucker nodded then sighed dejectedly. "C'mon, I have to get out of here before I justify maxing the credit card my parents gave me."

Danny snickered and took Tucker's wrist, dragging her out of the game store.

"I'll get you something from there, I promise. But it wouldn't be a surprise if you were there to watch me buy it," Danny said, which made Tucker make a sound of protest.

"Don't leave me hanging like that!"

"Hey, to distract you, you can help me figure out what to get Vlad."

"How about you and she—"

"Don't you _dare_ complete that sentence," Danny said, eyes narrowing.

Tucker gave her a completely unapologetic grin. "What? It _would_ make a good gift…"

"Fine, be that way. Let's go shopping for my everyone _other_ than Vlad."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Tucker said cheerfully, although a wicked smile remained on her lips.

**136 Luxury (11/28/09)**

_When was the last time I had the luxury of sleeping in?_ Danny wondered as she stretched languidly in her bed.

She settled back into her sheets and sighed in contentment. Her parents were bewildered, but hadn't rejected her, and while neither had Jazz, her brother was having a slightly harder time wrapping his mind around Danny and Vlad, for good reasons.

Danny turned over onto her stomach, the sheets tangling pleasantly around her, rolling into the feeble sunlight.

A smile squirmed across her face again as she remembered the horrified look on Jazz's face and stifled a snicker at Vlad's snide comment later that evening about Jazz's appearance.

"Danny? You up?"

Danny sighed at her mother's voice and grumbled her way out of the sheets, phasing through the bed.


	161. 112909 to 120509

**Author: **So, here it is. Another update of a story that I began a long time ago. As in 2009. And it is now 2013. Good going Ryuuko. /sigh

**Disclaimer**: Not mine

**271 Fly**** (Sunday 11/29/09)**

The flight back to the University was fairly short, especially if one took a short-cut through the Ghost Zone. Danny dodged a randomly appearing door and sighed quietly.

There were so _many_ doors that hung suspended in nothing. They cast no shadow, had no markings, had no 'glow' of their own—they were patches of dark solidity in an otherwise floorless, floating world. Part of Danny wanted to open some of them, see what was hidden behind the impenetrable, opaque 'wood', but another part balked, not wanting to release anything into the Ghost Zone that she wasn't ready to deal with.

Danny looked briefly around her, and felt the oddest sense of vertigo. Usually there were random spots of 'rock' interspersed amongst the neon, but she had been seeing less and less during her forays into the paranormal realm. Her stomach briefly dropped out from under her and she had to stop to reorient herself, although it was hard when there was no 'ground'. Danny couldn't be sure what was up or down, since her own sense of balance and kinesthesia was off by being able to float and/or fly in any orientation she pleased.

It wasn't often she got the feeling that she was teetering on the edge of the abyss, but every now and then the sheer intangibility of the Ghost Zone reminded her of the line between ghost and human that she tread so clumsily.

Danny took and deep breath, shook her head, and looked forward, using a tiny piece of land on the horizon as a point of orientation. It took her a moment, but once she was sure that she was heading _forward_, she pushed herself faster towards her 'home' at the university. Thankfully, regardless of how it felt like the Ghost Zone was expanding every day, human-made portals were stationary—she always would knew where Vlad's, her family's, and the accidentally-made portal at the university were. _That_ was at least a relief in a realm that was slowly making less and less sense. Before, the Ghost Zone used to have its own set of physical rules, bizarre though they might have been. Now, it seemed as if it was flying apart at the seams, and Danny didn't want to ponder what that meant.

She was relieved when she found the University portal and turned invisible and intangible—just in case—as she exited.

**95 Touch**** (Monday 11/30/09)**

Danny had been lightly dozing in class when suddenly the world warped and twisted, leaving her feeling out of touch with reality.

Danny scrambled at the table and found herself sitting at a desk, breathing familiar air in surroundings that were familiar, albeit a bit out-of-date.

But it was all so _wrong_.

"Daydreaming again, Mr. Fenton?"

Danny frowned and looked away from the desk and up to the speaker, only to nearly fall out of the chair. She looked around quickly and covertly, fighting down panic.

Wrong, wrong, _wrong_.

"Mr. Fenton."

_Is he talking to me?_ Danny wandered and swallowed, her fingers curling into loose fists.

She'd figure out what was wrong and then she'd thrash whatever ghost was doing this to her.

"Yes?" she asked carefully and nearly jumped out of her skin at her own voice. It took all of her effort to keep her hand from going to her throat in an instinctive gesture of disbelief and desire to touch whatever was wrong to figure it out.

"Please try to pay attention," the teacher drawled, and Danny barely kept herself from squinting, trying to divine who the teacher was, but no-one was coming to mind.

"Danny," Danny heard hissed behind her and she turned slightly to look over her shoulder and barely kept herself from staring.

The facial structure and build were all so very, very wrong, but she would recognize Tucker no matter her form.

"Later," Danny said, distracted by the sound of her own voice.

_Where am I? What is this?_ She wondered, her thoughts racing. _What ghost would this be? A new one? Or could it be…_

Danny's skin prickled. _Or could it be an effect of the _thing_ inside me?_

Danny forced her foreign body to relax and unclenched her hands. She looked quickly up at the clock and her shoulders slumped slightly in relief.

_Thank god. About to end._

The bell rang and Danny left quickly, not caring what class she had next, since she had no idea what her grade was in the illusion she was living.

She teleported out of the school as she turned a corner and ended up in the bedroom at her home.

_Everything seems the same,_ she thought as she trotted down the stairs before going invisible to avoid any other occupants. She sunk into the basement and looked at the inactive Ghost Portal, tapping her foot on the steel floor, her hands going to her hips.

Danny took a deep breath and found the bits of pieces of knowledge that she had from Phantom and extended a hand, finding the barrier between the Ghost Zone and Human World.

She attempted to open a portal between the two, but the world twisted in the same pattern as the Portal and Danny found herself standing in an infinite darkness, speckled only lightly with pinpoints of light.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Danny started to turn to face the voice, but ended up returning to herself with almost jarring force, her notes slipping off the desk and onto the floor, which was thankfully covered by sound of people leaving.

Danny felt her face burn with embarrassment as she knelt down and picked everything up quickly. Finn helped her, and handed some of the scattered papers to her.

"You okay?" he asked, blatant concern in his voice.

"I'll be fine," Danny said, her voice steadier than she felt as she shoved everything in her backpack.

**208 Spell (Tuesday 12/1/09)**

"I can't decide which is worse—English spelling or Japanese kanji," Sean muttered, and Danny couldn't help but sympathize. Danny tapped her pencil against the paper before her, what seemed like nothing more than scribbles scrawled across the surface.

"I'm never gonna get this," Danny sighed. Sure, she knew she was studying a _foreign_ language, but she hadn't expected it to be quite so…well, foreign.

_Should've continued taking Spanish,_ she thought mournfully. _Or even French or Italian or _something_ as long as it involved the English alphabet. But, nooo, I had to try for something completely different, just to expand my mental horizons or something._

"Aw, don't say that. You'll be fine," Finn said cheerfully, which made the rest of the class give him covert dirty looks.

"Just because it comes easy to you doesn't mean it's easy for the rest of us," Shawn drawled, carefully controlled annoyance in his voice.

Finn had the good grace to look sheepish. "Well, I mean, I _did_ have a head-start, taking it in high school and everything."

"Then why take it now, too? Shouldn't you have tried something different?"

"Hey, I _came_ here because it had both Japanese and Astronomy. You'd be surprised at how hard it is to find such a combination."

"I dunno, can't be _that_ hard in the larger schools," Shawn muttered and rubbed out a sentence viciously.

"Yeah, well, larger, affordable, and ones I could get into…" Finn trailed off, his shoulders slumping slightly. He obviously forced himself to perk up and said, "But, hey! We have time! I can help y'all study! It'll be awesome, yes?"

"Sometimes I wonder where you get your energy," Shawn muttered.

Danny smiled cautiously. "You'd really help?"

"Um, _duh_. Come here, what do you want help with?"

**59 Coat**** (Wednesday 12/2/09)**

Danny pulled her coat closer around her, fighting against the bitter wind that swept across campus. Even with her natural resistance to cold, it still bit down to her bones, leaving her cross and shivering.

_What I wouldn't give for a natural heating system right now_, she thought, and her mind abruptly and—surprisingly—presented her with the idea that Vlad would probably know a number of ways to 'keep her warm.'

Danny felt her face flush and scowled at the ground, pulling the coat ever tighter. _Stupid hormones. Stupid Vlad. Stupid weather._

Danny knew she could probably go ghost and fly to her next class, but she had already committed to walking and it would give her more time to think—well, to worry. Even with extra help, even with office hours, even with her putting every last ounce of effort into her studies, she still felt like studying for finals was a Sisyphean task.

Danny squared her shoulders and blew out a long, slow breath that misted into the cold air.

_I don't care how hard it is. I'm gonna succeed and become an astronaut and make everyone proud of me. Make _me_ proud of me._

She pulled the coat closer around her, mentally noting that she'd need to get a new one soon—_again_—if her body kept filling out the way it was.

**190 Drowning**** (Thursday 12/3/09)**

Danny dreamed of drowning.

She was suffocating in an expansive nothingness, flailing for a handhold, for any kind of surface, and finding nothing but potential that she squeezed between her fingers. She found the expansive _lack_ as disorienting as the Ghost Zone, with its up, down, and sideways dimensions. She couldn't think, the only thought that permeated her abject panic being 'Have to get out.' It repeated in an endless loop of terror in her head, and the futility of her motions made her struggle all the harder with even less success.

In her dreams there was also a voice, something that whispered secrets to her that made her ears bleed and forced her to stifle screams of agony and rage. It was trying to tell her something, _teach_ her something, mold her into something, but she wanted nothing of it, wanted to be deaf and dumb and blind to its influence. She was horrified at what she was hearing and wanted to run from the pain and darkness, but also rebelled against it, _hated_ how whatever was happening to her was outside her control.

The agony didn't end after she woke, however, for the whispers and the fear still resonated in her soul long after the dreams had ended.

**248 Doors ****(Friday 12/4/09)**

Finn had the ill grace to laugh as Danny rubbed her nose, scowling at the door before her.

"It's _clear_," she said in her defence, and Finn simply slapped her shoulder.

"Oh, it's totally okay, really," he said with a grin. "No worse than pulling when the sign says push."

"You don't have to laugh, though," Jewel said, elbowing Finn in the side.

"I was just distracted," Danny muttered and Jewel wrapped one arm around her shoulders.

"You're under stress, I know, I know. You need to get better sleep, I think. That way you would be aware enough to not walk into doors."

Danny grimaced. "I'd _like_ to sleep but…"

"But?"

"None of your business," Jewel replied primly and Finn held his hands up in surrender.

"Got it." He pulled open the door and gestured with a flourish for Jewel and Danny to enter. "After you, my ladies."

Jewel rolled her eyes as Danny snickered.

**171 Piano (Saturday 12/5/09)**

"I didn't know you played the piano," Danny said as she poked her head in on Vlad, on her way out from receiving her medication.

Vlad looked up from the sheet music and smiled faintly. "I'm sure there are still many things that you are ignorant of, my girl. I will enjoy watching you struggle to uncover them."

Danny rolled her eyes and walked into the room. She hadn't been in it before, and was surprised by how the shelves were filled with old vinyls, CDs, cassette tapes, even a _gramophone_ sat dusty in one corner. A whole bookcase was full of nothing but folders and books of sheet music, from contemporary pop music to high classical.

Danny couldn't _read_ any of it, but she could appreciate how difficult some of the pieces looked.

"Can you only play piano?"

"I have tried to learn cello," Vlad said, her hands coming to a rest on a chord. "But it is hard to keep a teacher when one has ghosts constantly coming and going."

Danny snickered. "Even money can't make them stick around?"

"As I have discovered over time, money doesn't buy _everything_. It does smooth a great many roads, though."

Danny looked thoughtfully at Vlad as she picked up where she left off. The last statement said a great deal. In the beginning, when she had first met Vlad, the woman had indicated that she knew, but didn't quite _believe_, that money couldn't buy everything—afterall, the only thing money hadn't really gotten her was Danny's father. But she seemed…sincere this time. As if she _knew_ now that money wasn't the be-all end-all.

Danny wondered what had changed that.

"Could you teach me?" Danny heard herself say, and Vlad's fingers stumbled on a run.

"First ghost powers, now music? What will be next—you asking if you could become my apprentice in business?" Vlad asked, looking to her, face unreadable.

"Ha ha, very funny," Danny drawled. "I've always kinda thought I might wanna be able to play an instrument some day, but my life…well, my life is my life. There's really not much time for anything other than school and survival."

"I suppose I can try to give you lessons whenever we both have time."

Danny found herself smiling. "Sounds good to me."

"Now, off with you. I'm sure you still have undone homework."

Danny sighed, then grimaced as she transformed and took off towards her dorm.


	162. 120609 to 121209

**Author:** /sigh

**Disclaimer**: Not mine.

**300 Feeling (sun 12/6)**

"Hey, you feeling okay, Danny?"

Danny looked up from Calculus homework and gave Jewel a wan smile.

"Just haven't been sleeping well," Danny said.

Jewel tsked and said, "Now _that_ is the understatement of a lifetime."

Danny's smile wavered before she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "That really _is _the problem, the not-sleeping. I _need_ the rest and instead…"

Instead, there were the nightmares. Even if she exhausted herself with exercise or staying up too late, the desired dreamless sleep was far from dreamless.

Jewel gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well, maybe when winter break rolls around you'll have less nightmares? School will be over, afterall, so you won't have the stress of a workload and you'll be back in your hometown where everyone else can take care of ghostly problems."

_Yeah, but during winter break is the solstice, where it's either figure out how to get this thing out of me or become something…else. _

"Yeah, break will definitely help," Danny said, although something must have been off in her tone from how Jewel frowned.

"Well, I mean, if you need help with anything…editing papers, someone to talk to, you know, _anything_…I'm here for you. Alright?"

Danny smiled. "I know. And I'm here for you too."

"I know," Jewel said and returned the smile. "I'm gonna miss being your sidekick for a month."

Danny couldn't help but laugh.

121 Death **(mon 12/7)**

"Light, Danny, you look like death."

Danny looked up at Finn and smiled faintly. "Think you've been playing too much of that video game to pick up that swear."

Finn didn't even look embarrassed as he said, "No, really. You sleeping at all?"

Danny sighed huffily. "jewel's saying the same thing. I'm just having nightmares. I'll be _fine_."

Finn held his hands up in a placating gesture and said, "Okay, okay. Just don't need you keeling over in the middle of class. I _am_ CPR certified, but still."

Danny blinked them smiled faintly. "Fine, whatever."

Finn gave her a cautious, crooked smile back before their professor walked in.

The nightmares _had_ been getting worse and worse. Anymore, Danny dreaded going to sleep, because that's where the thing waited to pounce on her weakened consciousness. However, her still-changing body dragged her under every night, and every night she got about three hours of sleep. It really was getting the point that she was thinking of going to Vlad to ask for help. Maybe the woman would have _something_ that could keep her from having to wake herself up or go mad.

It was something to look into, when she didn't have to pay attention to lecture.

**196 Angry (tues 12/8)**

Danny tried very hard not to become angry anymore. While it did have a lot to do with her ghost powers getting out of hand, it was also just a general desire. She didn't particularly like herself when she was angry, as that was when the darker part of her surfaced, and _that_ she could do without.

But, there were just _times_ that her emotions got away from her. She was glad that she had enough presence of mind to be able to make it into the Ghost Zone before releasing her frustrations.

_Stupid…I can't _even_...what the…_

Danny let loose a Ghostly Wail into the void and was glad that she was exhausted from the expenditure of energy.

People insulting _her_ she could deal with—she had dealt with it all throughout high school. But she didn't tolerate other people bullying her friends.

While she had wanted to immediately fly over and kick some testoerone-fuled butt, Tucker had talked her down from literally and figuratively seeing red.

"How _dare_ they say that about you," Danny had hissed, her shoulder tightening.

"Danny, Danny, _please_. Look, they're just douchebags," Tucker had said, although the protest had been half-hearted.

"No. No, no, and _no._ No-one says that kind of stuff about you _ever_," Danny snarled.

"Paying attention to them only gives them power and influence, and ignoring it takes away it because they see they won't get a rise out of me."

"This isn't _nothing_!" Danny half-yelled. "Insinuating that you only got in because of something you did for an admissions officer, mocking your intelligence when you're at the top of your classes, I'm so not standing for that."

"wait! _Stop_."

Danny was vibrating with fury, but sat back down in her chair. "Why _shouldn't_ I hunt them down and make them repent?"

"Because it's not your problem. It's _mine._"

"That doesn't mean I can't help!"

"Yeah, but you can't help with _everything_. I mean, I appreciate what you want to do, I really, really do," Tucker said quickly. "But I'm a big girl, too."

Danny sulked for a few seconds before letting out an explosive sigh. "Okay. Fine. You can deal with this. You _are_ a big girl. You _can_ take care of yourself. You're out on the West Coast far away from your family and friends and have been doing fine. Okay, okay. Just…I'm going to go hit things now. If you need me, I'll still have my cell on me. Don't know how reception is in the Ghost Zone, though."

Danny floated down onto a rock and put her head in her hands.

_I really hope everything will turn out okay. I really, really do._

85 Fire **(wed 12/9)**

Danny found Vlad sitting by her large fireplace in her mansion, absorbed in a book.

"Vlad?" she called out carefully, which made the billionaire look out of the novel and frown slightly in disapproval.

"Danny, why are you here? You should be focusing on—"

"Vlad, I need your help. Again."

Vlad quirked an eyebrow, "If this is about homework, you're coming up on finals, so you should—"

"No, it's not about that. It's…" Danny sighed and settled onto the floor, returning to her human form. She ran a hand nervously through her hair before saying slowly, "I need you to possess me tonight."

Vlad's eyebrows snapped up. "Pardon?"

"I can't...the thing inside me. It's getting stronger, bigger, I think. I can't _see_ it, though, can't locate it. If I can't see it, identify it, I can't fight it. I trust you, I _know_ you can help me. I'm thinking that maybe the presence of another will help me see who or what it is that I'm getting nightmares from."

Danny watched Vlad place her book down and walk over, she stopping a few feet away from Danny. "Now or later?"

Danny swallowed. "Tonight. You'll see when I start having nightmares. Jewel has woken me up from more than one. I want you to take control then."

Vlad was silent for a very long time before she nodded slowly. "If you think that will work. You're not doing it just so you can sleep with me?"

Danny flushed and shook her head. "No. I mean, that's _nice_ but…"

Vlad smirked and placed a hand on Danny's shoulder (Danny idly noticed that the woman didn't have to reach that far down anymore). "Well, then. I'll be more than happy to take you tonight, Danny."

Danny blinked, then felt her face heat even more as she cried, "_Vlad_!" to the billionaire's unapologetic chuckle.

**45 Hug (thurs 12/10)**

Danny woke to Vlad hugging her tightly, and felt light-headed and weak, as if she was recovering from a fever.

"Vlad?" she asked, and was surprised at how raspy her voice was.

"You're awake? And still you?" she heard Vlad mumble tiredly.

Danny blinked, then frowned as she ran a hand through Vlad's hair. "Pretty sure. So, uh, what happened?"

"I'm never doing you a favor again," Vlad muttered and shifted Danny so that their eyes met. "Your mind is very messy and we're running out of time."

"So, you know what it is that's in me?"

"We met," Vlad drawled. "It wasn't particularly happy to see me."

"And?"

"We had an altercation, and I'm glad that it wasn't physical. Although, there _are_ a few things I want to ask you, young lady."

Danny winced and gave Vlad her best unsure-but-game smile. "Go ahead?"

"You've been lying to me about the extent of your ghost powers—unless you have them locked away. You haven't _really_ accepted that darker self, have you?"

Danny looked away and shifted uneasily in the bed, resting her forehead against Vlad's collarbone. "I…no. I haven't accepted Phantom. Not entirely. I just…can't."

"You _must_," Vlad said firmly. "I believe that may be the only chance we have."

"What do you mean?"

"Right now there's a…hm, I suppose 'gap' would be the best word…within you. _That_ is where the entity is residing. That gap wouldn't be there if you were an undivided person. I think I felt that entity, too, on Halloween. It was looking for something like us, both mortal and ghost. But, since _I_ am perfectly at ease with my ghostly nature you, apparently, are not. And _that_ is where it is."

"You can't be _seriously_ saying that you want me to accept something that has killed thousands—maybe millions—of people in cold blood? You want me to accept that I might have been a _murderer?_"

Vlad sighed softly. "_Might have been._ You won't become one in _this_ time-line. Not with your friends, family, Clockwork…or me."

Danny sighed and closed her eyes.

"But, you can't just accept her at any time anymore."

"What?" Danny asked and opened her eyes, puzzled.

"The thing has taken root in you and I can't get it out now. It's up to _you_. And you have one shot at not becoming its puppet."

Danny frowned.

"On the solstice, you and—what did you call her, Phantom?—need to have a meeting of the minds. Only if you act as a _whole_ person will you be able to survive and remain yourself."

Danny sighed unhappily. "So, still have to deal with the nightmares?"

"Oh, I think I may have managed to get it to back off on that," Vlad said smugly, which made Danny's lips twitch in amusement.

"Now, go. Shower, change, grab your belongings. You have classes to attend to."

**137 Snow ****(fri 12/11)**

Danny sighed as snow drifted down in clumps, quickly accumulating on the semi-frozen ground.

Classes had _finally_ ended, and she had nothing but a week of finals left in the fall semester. _But after that is Winter Break,_ Danny thought as she drew absent circles on the blank paper with her pencil. _And during winter break I either lose everything I am to an ancient entity that not even Clockwork can fully control, or I accept my evil self and remain whole. That shouldn't sound like a terribly hard decision, but even just the memories I got from Phantom were…_

Danny squinted her eyes shut and put her hands over her ears as images of splattered remains on the sides of buildings—courtesy of the Ghostly Wail—flashed before her eyes and a twisted, maniacal laugh reverberated in her ears.

A cry of jubulation reached Danny's ears, which made her shudder, take a deep breath, open her eyes, and let her hands fall to her desk.

_I can't fail,_ she thought bleakly. _I _can't_ fail either school or on the solstice._

"Danny!"

Danny jumped and looked over to a breathless Jewel standing in their doorway. The girl's face was flushed and snow was melting on her shoulders and hair. Behind her in the hall people were coming and going, some covered in snow, some bundling up for it, everyone in a surprisingly light mood considering what loomed overhead.

"C'mon, it's _snowing_! You can relax for tonight. We'll help each other with studying tomorrow, promise."

Danny hesitated, then smiled as she felt a ghost trip her senses. _Fun _and_ stress relief._

"Okay, okay, fine. Let me get into my jacket and I'll be right out."

**254 Waiting ****(sat 12/12)**

The waiting was the worst part.

Danny closed and rubbed her eyes. _It'll be okay. Everything will be fine. It will be over soon. Just four tests left and then I can go home and sleep for days. Take out my frustrations on the Box Ghost or something. Spend some time with family. With friends._

_With Vlad._

Danny _hated_ waiting, though. She was a person of _doing_, and that she had no control over the inexorable approach of finals, the time that they were to be done, their location, or their difficulty drove her insane. She wasn't even sure what to study! Sure, they had done some review in the last class and she had been given a list of what _could_ be on the test, but it was overwhelming and terrifying and she wasn't sure how she would survive.

Danny's lips thinned out into a determined frown. _Like you've survived everything,_ she told herself. _Through hard work, guts, and sheer dumb luck._


End file.
